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Published: October 12th 2012
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No alarm to wake up to at 5-50am, a lazy start with a cup of tea on the balcony, breakfast at my leisure and time to think and breath.
After planning my program for the week, a canteen lunch of rice, meat and veges and meeting one of the music students who wanted to befriend me. I headed off for another walking tour.
Going in the opposite direction to Daming Lake on Huayuan Lu I walked until I got to RT Mart and Maccas. This certainly is not the pretty area of town, its life without the silver lining, lots of variety, with shoe menders plying their trade on the street corners amongst some of the street businesses. A latte and cheese cake reward in a very hot upstairs section of Maccas, it almost feels decadent to be spending this amount on money on a drink.
Opposite this area, what I thought was a castle at night is actually a Catholic Cathedral, Sacred Heart Cathedral and a minor seminary.
The facade of the cathedral was modelled on the Basilica of St. Clotilde in Paris . It is the largest cathedral in
the Gothic style in China and Southeast Asia. The cathedral is 35 metres wide, 78.69 metres long, and the twin towers rise 58.5 metres high. The west tower is a clock tower while the east tower serves as a bell tower, inside which there used to be five gigantic bronze bells shipped in from France in the 19th century, although nowadays only four remain as one was given to a local church in Guangxi province in the early 1980s.
The cathedral is built of solid masonry. It is one of the few churches in the world to be entirely built of granite, including all the walls, pillars and the twin towers. The granite stones were transported from Kowloon, Hong Kong by sailing ships. The cathedral was mostly funded by Emperor Napoleon III.
The cathedral was finished in 1888 after 25 years of construction.
It was firmly locked up today, as was the courtyard and it’s almost impossible to find out the mass times, I did find a reference on line yesterday, and so I will wander along on Sunday and see if I can find a mass preferably in English.
Across the road from McD
Near RT Mart- MacDonalds on one side and an alley of food stalls on the other Leaving this area I followed the major road East ( I think) towards the “Hundred Flowers Park”. This is what I would consider to be a botanical garden immaculately laid out and planned, with many facilities for families, older people, young couples, well-used and well-loved public area.
Plants were named clearly, so many varieties of path styles, pools with seating areas that offered real tranquillity, playgrounds for children with the latest in natural material designs and gardens that were thriving.
The Chinese bring along their little wooden stools, find some friends and hang out in parks, the smallest pieces of greenery or even the side of the roads and pavements. To watch and look, to exercise and stretch and to chat. Small children gather in groups and play, a must for each of these single children to develop social skills for life and learning.
Following the road I turned right towards LiShan Lu, past the imposing Shandong University and walked back to the Qilu University via Shanda Lu.
The athletics area of the campus is well used for basketball, badminton, people walking, running, riding bikes, roller skating and
tonight something new.
Red garments, a racquet with a central thin membrane, a yellow ball, music and a graceful dance choreographed, with the ball staying on the membrane unless thrown up and caught.
The dancers swayed and turned and all the time the ball stayed on the membrane, it was so skilful and really beautiful to watch.
My balcony beckoned with a little expat feast of cheese, tomato and crackers and a red wine.
Another wonderful day in Jinan.
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