I love the Old Summer Palace. There is something magical and poignant about it that makes me feel like I’m stepping through the looking glass of History. Few parks in the world have the kinds of stories to tell that this one does, and it’s right in our backyards! But it can be hard for kids to wrap their heads around the magnitude and importance of this place. So I suggest a fun scavenger hunt to help focus your trip. Make a game out of what might normally be a boring history lesson, and get some fresh air in the process!

There are so many cool things for kids to explore on the grounds of the Old Summer Palace, so to narrow the field a bit I sought out the help of Beijing’s favorite tour guide (and True Run Media contributor) Jeremiah Jenkins. Below are a few noteworthy and kid-friendly stops. You don’t need to find everything on the list! This activity should be fun, and it should inspire the kids to explore, research, and discover on their own.

Wanhua Maze: Find your way to the pavilion in the center of this stone maze. The emperor would sometimes sit in the pavilion and have the ladies of the court race through the winding pathways to see who could reach him first.

The Original Bronze Horse Head: The “Zodiac Fountain” was a massive fountain clock, with the 24 hours of the day represented by statues of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. At a given hour, the bronze animal head of the statue appointed to that hour would spout water! The heads were stolen from the palace when it was destroyed in 1860, but in recent years, seven of the original bronze animal heads have been recovered. The horse head was returned to China in 2020 and is now displayed in the park. (Hint: the horse head is not where the original fountain was. It’s hiding in a temple by the South Gate!)

The Bust of Victor Hugo: When the British and the French destroyed the Old Summer Palace, Victor Hugo wrote a scathing letter condemning the actions of his fellow Europeans. Hugo’s bust and a bronze replica book containing passages from his letter are somewhere in the park. Can you track them down?

The Place Where East Meets West: One of the amazing things about the Old Summer Palace is that it was a place where east met west in the days before airplanes made international travel easy. When Italian artist Giuseppe Castiglione (one of many European Jesuits working at the imperial court) showed the Qianlong emperor pictures of palaces back in Europe, the emperor asked Castiglione to build him a replica. While the “Western Style Palaces” only occupy a small portion of the park, the marble and stone ruins attract the majority of the park’s visitors. There is a very intricate scale model of the original park near the east entrance of the Western-style palaces. Can you find it?

The Black Swans: These beauties are originally from Australia. No one is sure how they made it to China, but in 2008, a family of black swans made the palace their home. See if you can find one. Bonus points if you can find a grey swan as well!

If you want to share pictures of your Old Summer Palace adventure with us, please submit them using the QR code below. At the end of summer, we will feature some of our favorites!

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Images: The Beijinger

I’m embarrassed to admit that I have been here for two years and I had never been to the Roundabout Retail Store. It’s particularly tragic because one of my favorite things to do in New York was wander through second hand stores and dig through piles of well loved items for treasures! Don’t make the same mistake I did. Go check Roundabout out! If you need a sneak peek, scan the QR code below to watch the video. You can also visit http://www.roundaboutchina.com/the-retail-store/ for more information on buying, donating and volunteering.

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Images: Unsplash

In the last of our series on different ways that teachers can make the most of their summer break – even if they can’t travel – I wanted to focus on volunteering. Whether we are on a one-year contract or have been in the capital for decades, Beijing is our home while we are here. Finding ways to give back to the community is not only important for those who receive our assistance, but it is good for the soul and can deepen our expat experiences in some surprising ways.

Different programs have different requirements and time commitments, but choosing something that you enjoy not only facilitates a positive impact, it can also connect you to new friends both in the local and expat communities, all while helping you develop new skills. Below are three local volunteer opportunities to get you started.

Roundabout – The Retail Store: This expat-founded program is the first charity retail store in China and helps support 48 different charities across China. They provide support to causes ranging from disaster relief to the mentally disadvantaged through the power of upcycling. All donations of clothing and home goods either go directly to those in need or are resold in their Cathay View Plaza Retail Store, with profits directly benefiting the various charities they work with. The website includes an appeals page listing current needs across China, a donation page if you wish to donate money or home goods directly, and a get-involved page for those wishing to give their time and energy to sorting, cleaning, or helping with the website.

www.roundaboutchina.com/the-retail-store/

The Library Project: This program first came to my attention while writing an article about Maovember, an annual fundraising drive that successfully helped open two reading rooms with 2020’s donations. As both an educator and a lifelong book worm I am in love with this project. The goal of the Library Project is to bring safe, well-stocked reading spaces to students in remote areas and provide teacher training and support to those same communities. Their numbers are truly impressive. According to their website, they’ve built 1,372 reading rooms, 3,225 classroom libraries, and conducted 38,000 teacher trainings to date! If you have a summer to spare and want to share your love of literacy, contact The Library Project via their website to learn about internships and volunteer opportunities.

www.library-project.org/

2022 Winter Olympics: If you plan on staying in Beijing for another year or two, applying to be a 2022 Winter Olympics Volunteer could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Not only will you have a front-row seat to one of the most iconic sports events in the world and have an opportunity to meet a lot of really interesting people from all over, but you will also be adding a pretty cool line item to your resume. Time is running out on this one! You only have until Jun 30, so get going!

https://vol.beijing2022.cn/indexEn.html

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Images: Unsplash

Happy International Museum Day! When poor AQI or brutal summer heatwaves strike, I love an afternoon nerding out in an air-conditioned palace of knowledge. But when it comes to kids, not all museums are created equal. Dusty velvet ropes, glass partitions, and signs screaming “Don’t touch!” aren’t ideal. You need to find a topic that sparks their imaginations and an exhibit that is curated to allow physical interaction. So here are my three best bets for kid-friendly museum excursions in Beijing.

Paleozoological Museum of China: If your kid loves big animals in general and dinosaurs specifically, this is the place for them. Institutions ranging from the Smithsonian to National Geographic and the BBC are hailing Hubei Province as the next frontier in paleontology following the discovery of thousands of fossils there in 2007. The scientific community has been carefully excavating and has found some truly amazing fossils including very rare “soft-bodied” imprints of species like jellyfish. One-third of the identified fossils in China are currently on display at the museum. In addition to smaller fossils, the museum boasts several full skeletons of mammoths and even a whale! The website is completely in Mandarin and there are very few English captions on displays, but let’s be real… the kids just want to see the cool dino skulls!

Hours: Tues-Sun, 9am-4.30pm

www.paleozoo.cn/

China Science and Technology Museum: For the little astronaut, and by far the hottest ticket this summer for educational fun. Since China put its first robotic lunar rover on the moon in 2013 the space program has been growing at an …astronomical rate. Likewise, the country’s first permanent fully functioning space station is expected to be completed by 2022. The Science and Technology Museum is honoring those accomplishments with an exhibit that opened in March. Visitors can become an astronaut for the day and experience such unique activities as seeing how people sleep, eat, work, and train in space. Located inside Olympic Village this state-of-the-art facility will provide hours of hands-on entertainment for the entire family. You can purchase tickets on the website (English and Mandarin available).

Hours: Tues-Sun 9am-4.30pm

https://cstm.org.cn/ywb/

Old Summer Palace: Okay, it’s not technically a museum. But one of the amazing things about China is that its 5,000-year history is alive and well in its public spaces. Not only are there opportunities to learn about the country they are living in, but the kids also get some fresh air while exploring the Emperor’s maze and the peony gardens. I suggest putting together a cool scavenger hunt to help focus the experience and give them some child-friendly history and exercise…Stay tuned for our scavenger hunt list later this week!

Hours: Daily, 7am-5pm

http://www.yuanmingyuanpark.cn/

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