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Published: June 11th 2013
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Overall, May was a sunny, lovely month in Shanghai. Things were blooming, trees bursting with new leaves, flowerboxes everywhere. Even the Magnolia tree out our window began to put forth smooth white blossoms.
Trying to take advantages of the weather (which, I have been told is about to get much rainier and drastically more humid) we tried to venture outside of the city as much as possible in search of green space.
Moving to such a massive city after a break in the pristine Northwest of the United States has been an adjustment. Even in Guatemala, when we sometimes felt restricted by safety issues, the pace of life was much slower and more relaxed. While the French concession is lovely with its low-rise buildings and European-style cafes, moving around the city can still be a bit overwhelming. There is always a sense of competing for space amongst a massive, pulsating throng of people.
Thankfully, here are some great places for those hoping to escape the hustle and bustle.
On May first, before our trip to Hangzhou, we visited the
Shanghai Botanical Garden. It was quite large, lots of trails to wander down, bamboo groves, bridges, and a gorgeous
Changxin Village
Huzhou, Zhejiant Province rose garden. There was a large canal that cut across the park and families could rent slow moving motorboats to putter from one end to the other. The general price of admission was only RMB 15, with an additional fee to visit the park’s conservatories. Things heated up quickly as jolly crowds rolled in for the holiday to picnic. Some even set up tents. And of course, there were multiple brides and grooms kneeling and posing amongst clusters of flowers.
Later in the month we went to
Sheshan, which is a good distance from the city. It is possible to reach by a combination of metro (line 9) then local bus...roughly an hour of transit time. The mountain itself is topped with an observatory and old German cathedral. There are some nice trails leading up and a few places to sit in the shade. Admission is free. Nearby there is a much more spacious sculpture park; likely empty because the RMB 120 price deters many visitors. We were curious enough to pay anyway and found quite a surreal world on the other side.
The park is set around a large man-made lake. There are indeed sculptures, a few
Bamboo grove
Huzhou Temple eerily empty cafes, a musical fountain, walking trails, and an artificial beach complete with plastic palm trees. Also nearby were a tree house, wading pool, waterfall, and giant inflatable blob for kids to jump on. The best part, however, was an overgrown patch of grass, trees, and daisies with actual hammocks that was tucked away on the shaded side of the hill.
A few days later, C and I went for our visa interview, the last stage before getting our resident permits. The “interview”, held in a very official looking office in Pudong, only lasted about three minutes and consisted of having our photos taken and signing our names before the stern-looking official waved us away. Afterwards, we walked to
Century Park which was amazingly tranquil on a weekday afternoon. The grounds were immense with plenty of ponds, flowers, and trees. The best part was renting a two person cart to peddle around in.
Finally, I also had a great experience going on a Chinese painting retreat in
rural Zhejiang. The event was organized by
Yejo Cirlce . Six of us went by van to Changxin village in Huzhou , roughly two and a half hours outside of the city. We
stayed at a nice guesthouse along with other city dwellers celebrating the weekend with large family dinners and of course, karaoke. Included in the price of our trip were our painting materials and our very own painting master. Mr. Zhu was a Taoist monk who had studied the art of painting for most of his life. It was fascinating to hear about the philosophy behind traditional Chinese painting; which was not so much focused on creating an accurate representation of the real world, but capturing its spiritual essence.
Mr. Zhu described the balance between the yin and the yang, the ink and the white paper. He also taught us breathing exercises to alleviate stress before painting, some of which were very similar to those I have learned in yoga. He explained how to look for balance in each work of art and to visualize each point even before we began.
Aside from our painting lessons, we spent our time walking around the village and nearby reservoir. On the last way we stopped by the local temple, an impressive compound of yellow buildings surrounded by bamboo forest and overlooked by a tall pagoda. After strolling along the damp path
Bamboo Grove
Huzhou Temple between thick groves of rustling bamboo we came across a volunteer monk and his companion. The old man was ninety-one years old and nearly blind. He sat, serenely weaving strands of bamboo into a basket. “It’s so peaceful,” he told us. “I’m so happy here.”
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Dancing Dave
David Hooper
the philosophy behind traditional Chinese painting
I reckon it is evident in this pic...a spiritual essence