Springless covered Peking carts bumped over the cobblestones, camels from the northwest moved with the haughty dignity of the desert, Buddhist priests in saffron robes stood among the red columns of the Lama Temple, dust storms blowing off the plains periodically tortured the capital and its residents. Outside the walls the plain stretched away to the Summer Palace and the Western Hills where the Monastery of the Azure Cloud and other temples were sheltered by ancient pines. From the Hill of the Jade Fountain springs flowed down to fill the lakes and moats of the Forbidden City.
