There's a big sign upon welcome showing the map of the place:
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| From Hangzhou - September 24-25, 2011 |
Here I am just inside the entrance:
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| From Hangzhou - September 24-25, 2011 |
This is the touring boat you get on:
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| From Hangzhou - September 24-25, 2011 |
And I'm sure they gave lots of interesting info on the boat part of the tour, but I couldn't understand any of it, so we may never know. :)
Once on the water, you get to see a lot of the wetlands, which are lovely, but without much in the way of wildlife, and a bit overpopulated in man-made structure to keep the land in. Still, it's pretty and looks like this:
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| From Hangzhou - September 24-25, 2011 |
And this:
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| From Hangzhou - September 24-25, 2011 |
One of the funniest parts of our day was that a butterfly attached itself to Zhenrong's pants almost as soon as we walked in. And then it wouldn't let go! It actually stayed on through multiple on and off boat trips. Here's Joyce and Zhenrong, and the butterfly friend:
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| From Hangzhou - September 24-25, 2011 |
But the signs may have been a bit more fun. Here's just a few... From the department of "Yes. Yes it is."
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| From Hangzhou - September 24-25, 2011 |
I'll give you a nickle if you can figure out Storage Battery Boat Terminal:
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| From Hangzhou - September 24-25, 2011 |
And don't forget to walk and mainly swim in the line:
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| From Hangzhou - September 24-25, 2011 |
Anyway... there were some neat structures and buildings built in the old-fashioned style. As well as some lovely plants, trees, and flowers. Here's one Joyce got of me by the gladiolas:
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| From Hangzhou - September 24-25, 2011 |
And it wouldn't be me if I didn't ogle the roof details:
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| From Hangzhou - September 24-25, 2011 |
At one of the break areas, you could buy fresh fruit and veggies. Persimmons were just starting for the season and they are really in high demand. I don't think you're supposed to, but people were using long sticks to knock persimmons off the tree so they could eat them. Or you could just go to the stand:
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| From Hangzhou - September 24-25, 2011 |
Also on the stand were some black chestnut-like things that look like plastic mustaches. Seriously! I wish I had a shot of them close up!
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| From Hangzhou - September 24-25, 2011 |
Much like day 1, day 2 featured the four of us shutter-bugging our way through our location. Zhenrong captured this one of Joyce, Bill, and I. I think it sums it up quite nicely!
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| From Hangzhou - September 24-25, 2011 |
There's a ton more photos up on Google+, too, but here's a last one that was just a symbol of how odd the effort is. I presume they want this to be a natural wetlands area, or maybe it's just meant to be a park that has water in it, because if they're going for natural, you probably shouldn't see this:
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| From Hangzhou - September 24-25, 2011 |
We wrapped up our tour through Xixi near this cool restaurant entrance:
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| From Hangzhou - September 24-25, 2011 |
But after we were done, we actually went into Hangzhou to seek out food. We had missed the normal lunch hour, so we ended up at a place that does cheap and tasty quick meals. I didn't get a lot of shots because I was too busy eating, but the cafeteria-style of the setting didn't diminish the tastiness of the meal!
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| From Hangzhou - September 24-25, 2011 |
From there it was time to hit the road. It took us quite a while to get back to Shanghai, and before it got dark, Joyce spent a good portion of the trip teaching me and quizing me on Chinese characters. She's such a great teacher! I had a head start given that I had studied Japanese for a bit, but even that was rusty. And with Joyce's help, I now know many more than I did a week and a half ago. It's also a lot easier to remember ones now that I know some of the basic pieces.
That really about sums it up for LAST weekend. This entry was rushed, but at least I have the outline down as a reminder to me. :)
Now stay tuned for more adventures! In Japan!
