BEIJING - The tour guide told stories about it on the way - fun ones, too, about emperors and concubines and eunuchs.

But once the chamber group started touring the Summer Palace, 700-plus acres of gardens, ancient buildings and courtyards, they discovered it had even more to offer.

"It was beautiful. Exactly what I expected China to be," said Dale Seagle of Coeur d'Alene, touting the ancient stone architecture.

But there were surprises, too.

For one, it's pretty crowded in the Summer Palace, not a palace at all but sprawling living quarters a Qing emperor built for his mother.

About 100,000 are said to visit a day. That seemed accurate on Wednesday as the group descended on the first courtyard, ringed with ornately painted structures.

It was a pleasant circus of primarily Chinese tourists, most from rural provinces, who our tour guide had explained had never seen foreigners before as they gaped at our group with stares and smiles. "Hello!" Chinese students shouted as they passed by the foreigners in a narrow corridor, some asking for high fives.

"Just like walking the boardwalk of Coeur d'Alene," said Lowell Stevens, of both the friendliness and the view of an artificial lake.

The landmark was also fraught with street vendors, who trafficked knock-off Rolexes and Gucci bags and tracked their prey with tenacious determination.

"Over the top," Dale Seagle said as peddlers chased the group across several courtyards.

Still, there was literally enough history to get lost in. Laggards had near misses of being left behind amid the maze of ancient stone courtyards, archways and corridors.

Folks paused to have their photos taken at spots like the Longevity Hall, an outdoor corridor replete with 14,000 small but elaborate paintings.

Deborah Seagle wondered at the future of the grounds that have been destroyed and rebuilt over a few centuries.

"They haven't repainted anything or repaired it," she said. "Don't they take care of their history?"

They at least immerse themselves in it.

In early morning, a group of Chinese women rehearsed a dance in one shaded courtyard of the Summer Palace. In another, high school students listened to a lecture. Kites dotted the sky above the 17-loop bridge, and bands and choirs could be seen rehearsing along the grounds.

Elderly folks practiced calligraphy on the courtyard stone with water and a broom-like brush, and one recruited Audrey Wallace to give it a shot.

She swept the broom smoothly across the ground, and, spurring laughter from observers, the man wrote "OK" beneath it.

"That was great," she said with a laugh, and later added, "Everyone here is so friendly."