Lianhua Shan Park

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I'm still playing catch up with my blog entries, so bare with me. Kim, Mariam and I went to Lianhua Shan Park about a month ago. The park is about a twenty minute walk north of my school. There are lakes, big open spaces, gazebos nestled in the wooded areas, and a 'mountain' to climb. The day was very warm, much warmer than the rest of the week had been, and it was nice to get outside and pretend to be in nature for a while. The entrances of the park are lined with people selling kites, balloons, fried dough sticks, etc. Red lanterns hang from the trees like overgrown apples and streamers wave in the breeze. It always seems very festive, like there's a never ending carnival there.

We decided to climb the 'mountain' first. There is a statue at the top of an important guy (I know how to say his name, but I don't know how to spell and am too lazy to look it up just now) and a great view of the city. Before arriving at the park my idea of hiking up a hill involved a dirt path strewn with roots and rocks, lots of grabbing onto trees for support and/or leverage, and the occasional slip and fall. In MD, we had the Appalachian Trail to hike, and I assumed that's what most people had in mind when they went hiking. In China, hiking is different. It involves stairs. The climb to the top was nothing more that a long, neat, orderly flight of stone stairs. I was a little disappointed but grateful at the same time. One of my biggest nightmares is requiring medical attention while in Asia. I've been to the dentist. That's enough for me. I'd rather not experience a doctor's visit.

While the actual climb was pedestrian, the view from the top was not. It was the first time I had seen the city from above and it was unexpectedly beautiful. Shenzhen boasts some impressive and graceful modern architecture and it's sometimes tough to appreciate from street level when you're dodging all things unsavory in nature. We went down the other side and stopped here and there to appreciate the pretty little gazebos and the fact that we were surrounded by trees. At one such gazebo a woman was singing while musicians played. The music was beautiful. The singing was....well, let's just say I have a difficult time appreciating certain aspects of Chinese songs. This particular chanteuse sounded kind of like Miss Piggy with her tail wound too tight. Perhaps if I could understand the words I would gain a higher understanding of this particular style of singing. Perhaps not. But I really enjoy the music.

At the bottom of the hill we came upon a lake. People were out on paddle boats and small motor boats. We sat for a while to people watch and then decided we wanted to give the paddle boats a try. We went around to where people were buying tickets and observed several transactions first before diving in ourselves. It took a while to figure out that it only cost Y40 to rent the boat but that we had to also leave a Y60 deposit. We chose our boat and paddle out into the flow of water traffic. Three foreigners in a paddle boat must have been extremely interesting because several other boats came by for photo ops and we seemed to get extra stares whenever we paddled near the shores.

After our boat time was up we felt we had earned some ice cream, so we left the rest of Lianhua unexplored and headed over to Dairy Queen. Mmmmmm......Dairy Queeeennnnn......

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Photos

At the top
Say Cheese!

Shenzhen's government building
It's pretty cool

Huh?
Please, do not bring a tent with you. Only improvised tents will be allowed.