My parents, Kathy and Tony Durand were set to arrive in Beijing on Friday February 1st.  They left their home in southern MN on Jan. 31st and 18 hours later, arrived right back home.  Extremely cold weather and snow forced some delays and airport closures.  They made the same journey a few days later and arrived here late at night on Sunday Feb. 3rd.  We were all VERY excited to see each other.

Not even 9 hours after they arrived, we were taking them on a tour of the Summer Palace.  The Summer Palace is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. It was first built in 1750, largely destroyed in the war of 1860 and restored on its original foundations in 1886 and became a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998.  It was a very cold day for a tour of these vast grounds, even for us Minnesotans. Here’s a small gallery of the best photos from the day. Click any photo for a larger view.