A Excursion to the countryside?

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25 January 2011

The lake's out there. I promise.
One of Meredith and my goals was to make it out of the city. With Chinese New Years fast approaching this endeavor was becoming increasingly difficult. We ventured out into a railway ticket agent near Meredith's and found a rather lengthy queue. Our first choice was a ski resort near Beijing but the trains were all booked. Yongshuo, an artsy, historic town, where a friend of Meredith's is living was also a no go. We ended up with tickets to Hangzhao, a town centered around a lake to the east of Shanghai. It's a popular weekend getaway sport for city dwellers.

Between exercise sets
Meredith had a last minute gig come up so I spent the first day in Hangzhao on my own. I caught an express train out of Shangahi that according to the onboard LCD panel hit speeds over 300 km/ hour. We made it the hundred miles to Hangzhao in less than an hour. I'm still trying to come to terms with the size of China. Emerging from the railway station, I was disheartened to find myself still surrounded by skyscrapers and apartment blocks. Hangzhao has an urban population of 4 million people. I guess for the Shanghainese, coming from a place with a four to five times that number, it can seem quaint.

Bronzed water buffalo
Fortunately, I found the area around the lake peaceful and attached to it, a large green belt area. I spent a good deal of time wandering around the trails. It was still bitter cold so I took to brisk walking and rolling my shoulders as I went. The Chinese are very into physical exercise and have no reservations about looking silly, whether its bouncing around to techno beats in the park or doing goose step speed walking while performed trunk and neck rolls. Whatever I was doing to stay warm, I could alway count on being overtaken by a middle-aged Chinese man in sweat pants doing something stranger.

No bikes and no exploding brief cases. Good to know.

Meredith in Narnia


Comments

sly said…
This is how I feel about DFW--way too far to drive for any glimpse of nature. Fortunatly Aunt Rachel has an oasis in her backyard!
28 March 2011 at 09:20
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