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High Tea at the fabulous resort within the Summer Palace complex
Whilst in Beijing recently and staying with some New Zealand friends, I asked them to visit a resort I had read about near the East Gate of the Summer Palace.
We drove to the resort and intended only to take a look inside and leave but after we sat in a lovely little courtyard with Chinese umbrellas hanging from the trees. At this time we saw a family eating a huge tray of cakes, scones and little sandwiches, so we decided to stay and order our own.
This courtyard was lovely but after we ordered our High Tea, I took a little walk around and found a round stone table with four little stone stools in a wonderful spot overlooking a beautiful lake. We moved there!
The resort is like travelling back in time to the land of the Empress, but with the amenities and services of modern times.
The High Tea arrived in a fabulous three storey tray and then we had a pot of Jasmine tea to accompany the food. The little sandwiches were lovely with one vegetarian containing tomato bread with grilled vegetables. Then I tried a scone with jam and fresh cream – lovely then a few of the little cakes – delicious too. My friends said the meat and fish sandwiches were really nice and one was a mini burger which looked too cute.
Around the lake, there are pathways and gardens and the resort guest rooms were not available to look at but they look fabulous on the internet although quite expensive. The rooms were previously used by guests awaiting an audience with the Empress, Dowager Cixi who used to go to the Summer Palace in the warmer weather to enjoy the lake and cooler surrounds. I was really pleased I made the effort to visit the resort as it was very beautiful.
