CHINA 2010 SUNDAY 5th SEPTEMBER

Reading ‘Parks and Gardens’ section of our guidebook and studying the map whilst Keith got on with the preparation for the Nantong trip I suggested taking a 531, which is one of the small older buses to the terminus off the coastal ring road in Shangli district. From there we can walk up the road that is only open to light traffic and is in the countryside.
We had to catch the bus from a terminus opposite ‘Walking Street’ by the harbour but there was no 531 on the boards. We saw one bus go by and so moved to one of the terminus’ further up the road and began to chat to a young lady from Indonesia who was working in Xiamen. We were just about to have an interesting conversation when in the second lane I spotted a 531 almost at our stop with another bus already coming to the bus stop on the inside lane. Luckily the driver saw us. We only went a few more yards when the bus stopped at the next terminus. Being a small bus it did not get so crowded and as we were sitting on the front seats could watch the driver. Like another bus we recently travelled on her speedometer and tachometer didn’t work and there was so much movement in the steering wheel, but we got to our destination.
As we began our walk up ‘Longhushan Lu’ translated as Dragon-Tiger Hill Road we passed a school with a sign outside congratulating the students on their pass results with several gaining 100%, the teachers being also thanked for their endeavours. The school was named ‘Manila Xiamen International School’ and through the gateway we could see an avenue of large stone figures amongst the greenery. This is going to be a good start to our walk which will take us up to ‘Shangli Shuiku’ a reservoir almost on top of the mountain. The footpath constructed of large pebbles moved alternately from one side of the road to the other but with hardly any traffic it wasn’t a problem crossing the road and flashing red and blue electronic lights warned drivers of pedestrians along the route. We hadn’t walked very far when we came to a sign ‘Firefly Park’. Stepping into a small area with statues that are usually guarding the inside of entrances to Temples we were disappointed to see the gates were locked. However we could look over a wooden fence to the water below where someone had thrown a net into the lake supported by small blue floats stretching along the edge. Carefully leaning further over the rail we could also see a series of rough looking shelters which we presumed were eating areas and with a name ‘Firefly’ guess the place is only open in the evenings. Looking at the scenery we saw a dam wall at the far end of the pool whilst at our end was a very rough wall built to retain the water.
We continued further up the road coming to what we thought was a hotel but turned out to be a golf club. Turning round I spotted a huge rock carved with the face of the ‘smiling Buddha’ in the hillside and wondered how many people had seen it as they passed in their cars. We were somewhat surprised to see a number 2 bus pass by as our map shows no buses travel on this route, but it will be worth remembering for future visits. As we progressed up the hill we had a good view of the golf course set in the valley and lower reaches of the mountain and running by the reservoir but no-one on the green, well they wouldn’t be in this heat.
Having to cross the road we came to an area with a toilet block, a colourful pond and a gateway. We couldn’t identify what was beyond the gate and it would cost us 40 yuan to find out. The ticket lady was very helpful and produced a leaflet. On opening it we found it was another entrance into the ‘Botanical Gardens’. We said we had visited three times and would come back another day. At this point there was a footbridge across the road that lead to another road with a signpost similar to those in the Botanical Gardens stating ‘Civic Flower Garden’ so off we went again having a good view of the golf course when it wasn’t obstructed by the green high wire fence or the pine trees. We stopped to watch the biggest spider we have ever seen hanging from a branch of an overhanging tree. There was another and whilst I took a picture Keith became concerned that the hanging one had disappeared and he didn't know where it had gone. I saw more of these spiders on our way to the garden. We were just about to give up and return when I spotted a few cars partly concealed by bright pink bougainvillea and so we continued our exploration. Oh no, more steps! After a long drink of water we began our assent but even though we were getting nearer to the blue sky decided we had done enough climbing and began our descent. Why does it always seem quicker on a return journey?
At the junction we made another photo stop. Two large bronze snails creating a water feature on a small road island surrounded by a low criss-cross bamboo fence. From here on if we continued down the road, which was now called ‘Wenping Lu’, we could walk down the sunken creek created in the middle of the road. We did this although most of it was dried up revealing large boulders whilst we were still walking on a pebble path which is supposed to be good for the circulation. We saw lots of different sized butterflies and coloured dragonflies, not to mention half a dozen wedding shoots, one of which we had to disturb to pass by on the narrow path. Unfortunately this little walk didn’t last very long and we had to take to the road again. We could have taken steps into the forest area but didn’t and we didn’t even investigate an area beyond a large carved rock with ‘National Park of China’ emblem on it, but we will another day.
As we neared civilisation Keith let out “Oh No!” and I wondered what was wrong. A ‘Sedrin’ Beer truck had lost some of its load onto the road and a group of men were sweeping up the broken glass into a large orange bin, whilst the official road sweepers stood by watching them. It was almost by the bus terminus and as we passed Keith asked if there was a free sample for him! Again Keith had looked at the map and found another small bus, number 4, would take us to the BRT. It actually brought us almost home.
At 6.30 we were dining out with Polly and her school friend, Wei who had just arrived from Jinmen, an island about an hour’s ferry ride away. He showed us photos of the place which were lovely – just our sort of scenery but the Laowai is not allowed to visit at the moment. Wei has travelled in Europe and so his English is excellent. After our meal we suggested a walk to ‘Haiwan Park’ to have a beer and listen to the music. They were very sophisticated and ordered cocktails. As we sat at our usual table Tony, who we had met a couple of weeks ago in ‘The Soup Expert’, and a group of students from Xiamen University called in to say hello, most of the students being from Belarus and here to study Chinese for one year. Tony mentioned he had found alternative accommodation as Danielle was ‘too much!’ They left as a couple of the group were going onto another bar where they hoped they would get a job playing to the public. The young man was apparently a well known drummer in Belarus whilst the lady, and probably his girlfriend, was a keyboard singer. It was a great night but by 10.30 we felt it was time to leave. Polly and Wei wanted to stay in the park so we said our goodbyes and wished them a safe journey home to Taiwan.
It has snowed in northern China and the sheep don’t like it! It was so bad the snowploughs were called out and traffic came to a halt.