Huizhou #1: West Lake Sunset

---

Finally, off to visit Huizhou, a smaller city that is close to Shenzhen. Even though Huizhou is really close getting there is a bit of a pain in the backside. I opted for the slower cheaper route of subway and bus. Subway was nice and simple just ride it to the end of line 3 and then transfer to the bus. Although the bus took just over 2 hours and wasn’t the most comfortable as it was just a regular bus, not a fancy coach or anything, it was actually less faff than getting the train and having to go through all the security and ID checks. It was also a bargainous 9 RMB. China isn’t too cheap any more but there are still some good deals about. The journey was uneventful and I just watched the countryside and various industrial estates and small towns as we drove by. It was about a ten minute walk to my guesthouse and I liked the area I walked through. The room wasn’t ready so I had to wait a while for the cleaner to finish, bit annoying as I got there well after check-in time opened. The room was really nice though and worth the short wait.

First things first, I was starving, so time to order some food. I have been enjoying little dishes a lot recently so I ordered some of those. I didn’t have to wait too long for them to turn up. I ordered stir fried cabbage, sweet and sour pork, and pork with preserved mustard greens (梅菜扣肉 mei cai kou rou). The cabbage was okay, not the most flavoursome of dishes. It was meant to have chilli in it, but there was little to no kick from it. It also needed a good dousing in vinegar. The sweet and sour pork was good. I don’t eat it very often and I really should eat it more as it is always tasty. I just kind of forget about it. Pork and preserved mustard greens is one of my favourite dishes. It is a Hakka dish (The Hakka are people originally from Northern China that migrated south centuries ago to escape persecution), which is a type of cuisine found in parts of Southern China and should be more well known internationally in my opinion. The pork is pork belly thinly sliced and placed on top of the mustard greens. It is the perfect combination of meat and fat. It is salty with a sweet tinge, not too sweet and melts in the mouth. After that feast, I needed a bit of a rest. I think I am still recovering from my outing to Hong Kong too.

After I pulled myself round, it was time to head out and see a bit of Huizhou. I was staying near West Lake, which is one of the main attractions in Huizhou. Huizhou is pretty spread out and when I was doing some research getting to the coastal areas or to the scenic areas in the hills would be a 2+ hour ordeal each way. Since it was too hot for that, I decided to just spend my time around West Lake. Most cities seem to have an East or West Lake and I have been to a few of them in different places; Huizhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan and Hangzhou. Huizhou’s West Lake was said to have been as famous as Hangzhou’s West Lake in the past. I headed through the small alleyway admiring the murals painted on the walls. They were all food related so I think they were an advertisement for the very busy restaurant at the bottom of the street. I crossed the road and was at the edge of the lake. It was nice to stand under the shade of the trees and watch both tourists and locals enjoying the area. I was surprised that it wasn’t busier. I presume more people are trying to stay out of the heat. I liked the area by the lake. You could see that it was being gentrified, which in my opinion is a good thing. The first floors of the buildings had been renovated and looked clean and modern, while the upper floors were more worn out and peeling. There were lots of cute and cosy looking guesthouses, restaurants and cafes.

I headed in one direction along the side of the lake. I could see the sun was starting to set and spent ages taking pictures of it. The sky had a lovely slightly yellowy orange tinge to it and the sun was reflected off the water. I enjoyed my walk and stopped in a few places just to take in the view, people watch and read. I also liked that if you looked in different directions you got different views; of the ancient and the modern. In some directions you could see the different attractions around the lake such as pagodas, pavilions and bridges, while looking in other directions you could see the modernity of the city with its high rise hotels, offices and apartment buildings. It was a good mix. The sky turned a nice shade of pink as the sun set further and the buildings started to light up. It was really pretty, but far too hot and humid. I was walking at a snail’s pace around the lake and the sweat was dripping off me. Even when I was sitting relaxing it didn’t stop. 30℃ at 7:30 pm is still too much for me. After walking in a couple of different directions around the section of the lake close to my guesthouse, it was time to retreat to under the air conditioning with some icy cold water.

---