Shantou #2: Queshi Scenic Area

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I made it down to breakfast slightly earlier. There was a bit more choice and while it was nice to see new things on offer, I was a little disappointed some of the offerings I had enjoyed the day before weren't there. I loaded up my first plate with a rather large amount of stir fried greens, a boiled egg, sausage, youtiao (fried dough stick), and some fried veggie dumplings. The sausage was a cheapie processed one so pretty meh. The dumplings, boiled egg and youtiao were good, but the best bit was the stir fried greens. So tasty. As much as I like eating traditional Chinese breakfast food, I enjoy eating what is in my opinion non traditional foods too. I am definitely not one of those people believe certain foods have to be eaten at certain times of the day or at certain meals. My second plate contained more stir fried greens, some fried rice, belly pork, siu mai and some kind of fried vegetable patty that I think might have been turnip cake. The fried rice wasn't the best. It had the sweet tasting Chinese sausage in it, which I find edible but I am not a huge fan of it. I prefer it in a dish alone not mixed up in fried rice. The siu mai and turnip cake things were good. I really enjoy dim sum as it lets me have a little bit of everything. The pork was by far the best thing on the plate. It was very cooked and seasoned, and just melted in my mouth. Perfect!

Another waddle to the bus stop and I didn't have to wait as long for a bus today. I was heading to Queshi Scenic Area, which was across the water, on the opposite side of the river. My journey involved two buses. The first bus ride was a short one, but too far to walk. After alighting the bus, I headed across the road and waited for the next bus that would take me to the scenic area. It had to wait a bit longer for this one about 15 minutes, not too bad and still a lot quicker than yesterday's wait. I was surprised that there were quite a few other people on the bus and wondered if any of them were off to the scenic area or elsewhere. The bus went through a small tunnel and then an audio started playing in Chinese and English about the tunnel and what to do if we needed to evacuate. I was a little confused as I thought we had come through the tunnel, but no there was a longer one just ahead that would go under the river. I was hoping that the audio was just an overly cautious health and safety measure. The area on the other side of the tunnel seemed to be newly developed. Lots of housing estates made up of nice new high rise apartment blocks, but the area seemed to be rather devoid of life and shops and services people need. The bus then went along the waterfront and passed some military areas. I don't know why but recently I seem to be holidaying in China's military hotspots; Sanya, Huizhou, Shanwei and here.

The bus terminated near the scenic area and I had to walk for about 5-10 minutes to reach it. The walk was nice and easy, only slightly uphill in one section. I came to a small lake that had some buildings on the other side and I could see the chairlift going up the hill and the pavilion on the top of it. It was a really pretty scene. This part of the scenic area is the Tashan Hill scenic spot. I headed into the area proper and started to climb the many steps. I was heading for the pavilion and there were a few different routes. As I started heading uphill, I was treated to some nice views of the surrounding area. There was a nice mix of smaller, older traditional style buildings and larger, modern ones. They complemented each other well. There was a school there too. What a nice place to study up in the hills, I wonder if the students or the teachers appreciate the location more. The route up was pretty much all steps and not very strenuous although I was still sweating buckets due to the heat. I loved all the steps cut out of the rocks and it reminded me of Huangshan a little. Quite a few of the rocks also had Chinese writing carved into them and the writing was painted red so it really stood out. This seems to be quite a common phenomena across China. I really wish my Chinese was better so that I could understand what was written. I think it is poetry. It must be nice to read it as walking by and reflect on the poets' words as I presume it is about the local scenery. I came across an information board, so I was happy to read up a bit about the area. The place I was in now was called 'One Line Sky' and the board explained that the mountain scenery in China is often caused by water erosion or boulders falling (I think that's what it meant as the translation or my comprehension wasn't the best), and there was a 'Peep Rock' just ahead where you can see a small sliver of the sky in between two large boulders. A I was now a bit higher I started to get some great views of the harbour/Shantou Gulf and the modern high rise buildings across the water. After a few more minutes of uphill, I made it to Piao Ran Pavilion. It was lovely to sit in the pavilion and take a rest while taking in the view. There were quite a few people up there, mainly families and it was a popular spot for a picnic. I was surprised to see one woman get her laptop out. I suppose it was a nice place to work, but give me air conditioned comfort for work any day of the week.

Looking at the map, it looked like I could do a loop around the top of the hill before heading down, so I decided to do that. I walked past another pagoda that seemed to have been converted into a snack stall, but it lay empty and abandoned now. I made my way to the chairlift as the map indicated that the path went along by there. However, when I got there the only routes were back the way I came or down the hill via the chairlift. The direction of the path I wanted to take was gated off and there looked to be an old toilet block or some other kind of building beyond the gate. Oh well, back the way I came, but whenever I saw a bit of a detour I took it. I saw more picturesque spots where boulders had fallen and balconies carved out of the stone. One path took me to the back of the hill and I got to see the views in the opposite direction. I could see a temple complex below and wondered how hard it would be to get there. No doubt I would end up getting lost. I passed another area that was blocked off. It looked like a resting place but maybe the low hanging branches of the trees made it dangerous. The route I took down the mountain was a bit more exciting than the route I took up. While it didn't have as many beautiful views, it did have some great small cave like areas with benches to rest on and I loved the stairs descending into these areas and walking some narrower walkways between boulders.

Once back to the start, I decided to head over to the other side of the scenic area to take a look at that. The English translation of the name was Valley of Dreams, which sounded really nice. There was a lovely lake called Peach Blossom Stream Lake right by the entrance. This art of the scenic area looked quite big on the map, but I was too hot and thirsty to explore too much of it. I had ran out of water so only did a short walk around the closest parts. I passed by Dragon Spring Cave, which seemed to be undergoing construction as they were building a large building there that looked a bit like a temple. It was nice to walk in the shade of the forest and I passed some stairwells and caves carved out of the rocks as well as an abandoned looking building. I did a circular path that led me back to the entrance. I passed some kind of tea shop/café but it looked a bit abandoned/unwelcoming. I headed back to the main road out of the scenic area and stopped at the first little store I found for a drink. I opted for a bottle of Pocari Sweat for rehydration and also a bottle of water. While looking at the water, I saw one I had never seen before so went for that. I polished off the Pocari Sweat in no time and made a start on the water. First strange thing the bottle wasn't full and there was a rather large gap at the top. Second when I opened it, it fizzed. Strange! Took a swig and found out the water wasn't water, but another electrolyte drink. It was a bit rough and ready, salty with a sweet fruity tinge. Don't think I will be buying that again. I headed for a bit of a walk along the waterfront. It was nice to take in the views of Shantou across the gulf, but too hot. So my walk was a rather short one and I headed to the nearest bus stop for the journey back.

When I got off the bus, I ordered a tea from Yi Dian Dian (一点点). I wanted something nice and refreshing so ordered a grapefruit tea. I don't know what it is about this store and/or delivery drivers, but they are on it. The delivery driver beat me to my place and was already at my door before I even got in the lift. Talk about efficient. I flopped on the bed and drank my tea. It was nice to relax and recover from my dose of heat and sunlight. My walk around the scenic spot hadn't been strenuous but the heat had made it a killer. After a couple of hours I was fully recovered and had to head back out to the mall as I needed to pick up some bits and pieces I had forgotten to get when I arrived. When I was in the chemist, the pharmacist/sales assistant was trying to flog me something called anti-dripping pills. The English made no sense so I tried to translate the Chinese on my phone but it just said the same thing anti-dripping pills. Since I had no real clue what they were for, I didn't purchase them. However, I did wonder afterwards if they could have been anti-sweat pills as the sweat was pouring off me when I was in the shop. I doubt that they would have been that effective.

Back at the hotel, I rested up some more before ordering dinner. Since it was my last night of Chaoshan Cuisine, I was ordering up a feast of some new things I wanted to try and an old favourite. Trying to find everything I wanted in one restaurant wasn't too hard as I thought I may have to order from multiple places. I ordered another oyster omelette (蚝烙 hao lao), turnip cakes (菜头粿 cai tou guo), and beef meatball soup (牛肉丸汤 niu rou wan tang). The beef meatball soup was rather average. I am not a fan of clear broth soups and there was a couple of pieces of lettuce floating in it with the meatballs. Honestly, the meatballs could have been mass produced for all I knew as they really didn't taste any different to any others I've had at countless hotpot restaurants or bought from the supermarket. The oyster omelette tasted just as good as the one I'd had a couple of days previous. I loved the salted vinegar to pour over, it really adds to the flavour. I wish I felt brave enough to make one of these at home, but no doubt mine would be lacking. The turnip cakes were also really, really good. Freshly cooked they were much better than the ones on the breakfast buffet. They were a little crunchy, greasy and paired with the chilli dipping sauce absolutely bloody lovely. I can say that I agree with the saying 'you come to Shantou to eat' and I have fallen a little bit in love with Chaoshan Cuisine. There are a few more dishes that I didn't have time to try so I hope one day I can come back to try them.

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Photos

Breakfast
Plate One

Breakfast
Plate Two

Blue Skies
Queshi Scenic Area

Comments

[RENanDREW]

Anti-dripping pills!
I chuckled hard at this one - couldn't they have just handed you a tissue if they thought you were sweaty? :D It's nearly dinner time here and I WANT that Oyster Omelette and radish cake! It's always the first dish I order when I get to Singapore (called carrot cake over there). Lucky you having all these delicious dishes on tap in China :)

[Zephyr]

Taste Test
Sounds like a need to trip to Singapore so that I can compare the dishes ;) I kind of wish I'd bought the anti dripping pills now to see what they were/if they worked. Also tissues tend to disintegrate and leave little bits of paper on my face. Not a good look.

[cabochick]

Scenic China
You really get a more in-depth experience knowing the language of the country you are traveling don’t you. I would have been so lost in many of your situations. Fascinating blog, thank you for sharing.

[Zephyr]

Thank You
Thanks for reading. My language skills are still lacking, but I do understand more and it lets me explore some of the less well known (to a Western audience) sights that the country has to offer.