Day 6: Summer Palace, Beijing

This morning I photographed the historic Lu Song Yuan for the Silk Road Hotel Group. The head of marketing fell in love with my destination photographs and commissioned me to photograph, in my own style, three of their properties. This is a great honor; the Silk Road Hotels are respected for their cultural authenticity and located in some of the best places in China. I am delighted too, since one of my joys in traveling is finding hotels that have a unique local flavor. Now, I’ve been invited to stay in traditional hotels in Beijing, Dunhuang and Shouzou. This is one of the mystical indications that I am on the right path.

Once I finished shooting at the hotel, I headed to the enchanting Summer Palace located on the northwestern edge of Beijing. It’s my last day in the capital city and it should be a toss up between the Summer Palace and the Forbidden Palace. To me it was a no brainer. I’d seen the rooftops from afar but I wanted to be in nature with Pagodas, surrounded by lakes, flowing streams and picturesque bridges. All the iconic romantic symbols of Chinese landscape design in one place, a photographers dream and I was not disappointed.

Red Pagoda, Summer Palace, Beijing

Corridor, Summer Palace, Beijing

Tomorrow is Day 7 and I am off to Xi’an the capital of ancient China and the city from where the Silk Road originated.