Wenzhou Part 1 (7-21)

Saturday was a relaxing travel day from Yandangshan to Wenzhou. I had a 2.5 hour wait at the train station; so that became reading time. Upon arriving at the Wenzhou station, I noticed the sign pointing to buses and decided to try one. I showed my hotel address to a driver, and he told me which bus to take. I showed the address to the driver on that bus, and, after an hour, he told me to get off and pointed a direction for me to go. I decided to ask for assistance and chose a woman standing with her friend. Her friend left, and she indicated for me to go with her. She asked a few people and called the hotel. Then she pointed for me to go ahead and turned onto another street. After a few minutes, it was clear that the hotel was not where she had pointed. So I went into a building with men in uniform and asked them. One man called the hotel and then walked me to it. He wrote his phone number and name (in Chinese) on my paper in case I want to call him to show me around. He hung around at the desk until I told him in Chinese that it was OK. I guess he was just making sure all was well.

The young people at the front desk spoke no English but were quite good with their phone translators and really tried to communicate. I enjoyed interacting with them. My favorite was when I asked how to open the safe in the room and typed “safe” in my dictionary. Her response on her translator was “Do you feel safe?” Sweet, but not what I wanted. I moved on to “safe box” and she sent the “waitress” to help me.

After researching on the Internet about stuck camera lenses, I learned that there is a place in the U.S. where people have sent cameras to have that problem repaired successfully. That gave me the idea that maybe there is a camera repair shop in Wenzhou. When I asked at the desk, another guest was there and he told me where to go. He said he could take me, but I think his wife vetoed that, as he drew the directions on the map I had just gotten and wrote the street and “camera repair store” in Chinese for me. Armed with these, off I went. Unfortunately, his directions weren’t accurate. I asked someone about the street and he pointed the other way; so I walked that way, knowing that it was a main street. When I decided that I’d gone too far, I asked a man in a store and he pointed back the way I’d come. So I went the direction the man had drawn even though the street name had changed. After a while I went into a store and asked. The man there said there weren’t any such stores in that area and it was the wrong street. He got onto his phone map app and showed me where to go. I had him draw it on my paper. It was good that I’d walked the other way on the main street because I knew exactly where he was talking about. I found the store he was talking about, but it was closed.

On the way back I stopped for a drink, and the young man spoke English. I was happy to be able to choose a drink that wasn’t one of the pictures.

Sunday morning after breakfast, which was one of the best buffet breakfasts I’ve had, I set off for the camera repair store. It was right where the man in the store said it would be. In the process, I realized that the area the man at the hotel had directed me to was just past the store. I had mistaken the small roundabout near the hotel for the big one on the map. That area is full of mobile phone stores but no stores with cameras. Inside the store, I showed my note to a young woman who didn’t know about a place for camera repair. A minute later, she came to me and directed me to the Canon counter. When I showed the man there my camera and it became clear that we couldn’t communicate further, he brought over a young woman who speaks English. She explained that it takes two or three days to repair a camera, not counting the first day. Since I was leaving early Wednesday, I could leave it for two days but not for three. The problem was that there is only one repair shop in Wenzhou. I’m sure the repair itself probably takes about twenty minutes; it’s the waiting in line that needs two or three days. I was nicely persistent about two days. Then she said to leave it and return around four in the afternoon and they would tell me whether my camera could be repaired or not. So off I went. At 3:30 she called to tell me that I could pick up my camera on Monday. Good news. And the cost was only 200 RMB/$35.

When I returned to the hotel to pick up my hat and umbrella which I had neglected to move to my handbag after traveling, I realized that what I really wanted to do was stay there and rest. So I did. This was one of the better/more expensive hotels I stayed in, and it was nice to have such a lovely room to relax in. My head was a bit warm and my nose was dripping a lot. At 2:00, I felt well again. So, fortified with rest, tea, and a waffle sandwich (two waffles with jam between them), off I went to explore the area a bit. This is the hot time of day, but I was ready to be out of the room. 

Near the hotel is a pedestrian shopping area that is European in feeling and decoration. It’s two rings of shops. 

Outside the rings is a Walmart, the first I’ve seen. (There is one in Chengdu, but I haven’t been there.) 

When the woman and I walked through that area briefly on Monday, I noticed several pools with children playing in the water. These were mostly empty, probably because it was too early. When I returned in the evening, there were a number of children playing in each pool, and the whole area was lively, as is usual in China.

I wanted to walk along the river and find the places to get ferries across to the other side and to the island. I was glad I had my umbrella, as the sun was bright and hot. This river is not beautiful, at least not here and not now. It’s wide and brown. 

Later I came across a sign pointing to an ancient street. 

It has a lot of small shops but was interesting to walk down. 

I returned to the main street on a parallel residential street. I always enjoy exploring these streets.

Using the map, I headed toward the hotel area. On the way I came across Huagai Park and decided to walk through it, as it was now cooler and being among the trees was appealing. The paths go up a hill. (I wouldn’t call it a mountain as the description does.) At the top there is a Taoist temple.

When I exited the park and headed back to where I’d entered, I was surprised to see the cactus sculpture that is my landmark for going to the hotel. 

On that side of the street there is a canal with a park where many people were sitting, walking, and playing on the lawn. This was the first such designated lawn I have seen.

Before returning to the hotel, I walked around the shopping mall to find a place to eat. Eventually, I found a place with food on skewers. You pick the skewers you want and pay per item.

Monday morning I picked up my camera. When I tried to delete a photo I had taken to check the camera lens, the choices came up in Chinese. The repairman had changed the language. I know how to change the language, but when all the menu choices are in Chinese, that’s a problem for me. I was glad I’d found out in the store so the man there could change it back to English.

My destination for the day was Jiangxinlu Island, which is a small island in the middle of the river. One site describes it as one of China’s four best islands. Not having seen any islands in China, I can’t compare it to others, but it is a lovely respite from the city. You get there by ferry. 

Historical features are two pagodas 

and a temple. 

The island has a big lake and a couple smaller ones. 

I especially enjoyed walking through the tree-lined path 

and an area with palm trees. 

Another special area is the bonsai garden. Like the park I’d visited on Sunday, it has a designated lawn area. I’ve realized that this is a treat for the apartment-living people, but I haven’t seen it anywhere else.

Since the island is quite small, it’s easy to walk around, but there is also a shuttle available. I, of course, chose to walk, stopping several times to sit and relax. In the afternoon when I had walked just about everywhere, I sat on a bench to rest for a bit before returning to the hotel to relax and get out of the heat. It was so beautiful there and there was a gentle breeze; so I ended out staying there, reading and nodding off for over an hour. It was a perfect place to relax.

After taking a taxi to the area near the hotel, I decided to look for a place to eat. It was only 4:30, but I was hungry, not having eaten much since breakfast. I entered a small restaurant that has a statue of a big fish in the window, as I was thinking about fish. The food display case had big pieces of fish. Using my dictionary, I requested a small fish. I got one of the big pieces in the case, which turned out to be OK since it was only one side of the fish and most of it was head. So the amount of actual meat was what I wanted. While I was waiting, the man, who I think is the cook, gave me a plate of watermelon with the rind cut and looped decoratively and an orchid in the loop. Beautiful and refreshing. 

When the fish was presented, he took a photo of the woman and me with my food. After I finished, he had her take a photo of him with me and my finished meal. I think they don’t get many—if any—foreign customers. It was fun to provide so much pleasure to them.

Before returning to my room, I made a brief trip through Walmart—just because. It’s a basic store with no food products. 

Yandangshan (7-19)

Wednesday was travel day: Xi’an to Wenzhou to Yandangshan. I had decided to fly between these two places, but it was a longer day than I’d anticipated when planning. learned Tuesday night that the trip to the Xi’an airport takes an hour and a half, which meant that I had to leave the hostel at 7:45 to walk to the shuttle to the airport. The trip took only an hour; so I could have slept an extra half hour, which would have been good after the busy day on Tuesday. After landing in Wenzhou, I saw a sign in English for the airport shuttle. The woman at the desk didn’t speak to me, just pointed to the price and pointed out the door when I asked where it was. I asked a guard outside, showing him my ticket, and he didn’t know. He asked a young man standing near him who spoke very little English and also didn’t know. I asked a policeman and he pointed to the curb. So there I stood. After a few minutes, the young man came to me and asked if I wanted the bus. He then took me to a nearby sign—in Chinese only—and indicated that I should wait there. The trip into the city and on to the train station took an hour and a half. The train station is so far out of the city that I wondered where the driver was taking me until I finally saw a sign for the train station. The wait at the train station was half an hour. When we were standing at the track waiting for the train to arrive, a young woman spoke to me in quite good English. She is going to Norway next month to get a master’s degree in marine engineering and hopes to get a job there, as she believes that the pace of life is slower and there isn’t much competition for jobs. She told me that China has many beautiful mountains but Yandang is not one of them; it’s just a normal mountain. I thought “normal” would be OK. I thought that perhaps “normal” also means less crowded.

The train was a bullet train and the trip to Yandangshan took only half an hour. Maximum speed was 200 km per hour. I enjoyed looking out the window at the green landscape and mountains, which I had noticed when the plane was landing. The train went through several tunnels through the mountains. At the Yandangshan train station, several women surrounded me trying to get me to stay at their home. This was all done in Chinese with gestures, but it was overwhelming. I was glad to see the shuttle bus to the park and got on along with the women. When it stopped, a man pointed for me to get on the next shuttle. I showed the driver the hotel address in Chinese, and he stopped near it. A man who also got off walked me to the hotel’s street, which was nice, as I never would have found it on my own. The whole trip took 10.5 hours. I needed a travel day but not that long.

When I entered the hotel, no one was there, which felt strange. I turned on the fan and sat for fifteen minutes. Then the woman came down the stairs with a big, friendly “nihao/hello.” She doesn’t speak a word of English, which didn’t surprise me, knowing that this is not a foreign tourist destination. I only saw her a couple more times, but she was pleasant and friendly when I did see her, which is what is important.

Leqing, the town on the mountain, is set against a backdrop of mountains, which is lovely. After being in two big cities, I was ready for some time in nature. The hotel is at the edge of the town. I headed to the main street for dinner. In this area, there are a lot of cafes and a few shops selling basic snacks. I selected a café that has vegetables on display and chose some greens. I picked out the amount I wanted, and the woman doubled it, telling me the price. I removed half of them, telling her I wanted a little. She added more. It was funny. She was determined to give me the proper amount for the price, but I didn’t want too much more than I would eat.

Thursday morning I was awakened by the noise of people and loud children in the halls. The acoustics are not good and noise carries. Fortunately, this is not a problem I’ve had in most hotels I’ve stayed at. I had a bit of a sinus problem and was determined to make it an easy day. I didn’t see any place selling breakfast foods or any people eating at the cafes; so I headed for the park. Some of the stalls were open, and I bought an ice cream cone for breakfast. That was a first for me. I was glad I had my snacks with me, as there was no food in the park.

The park was formed by volcanoes. Linfeng, the section near the hotel, is known for its cliffs, caves, and clear pools, all three of which I saw. 

The huge cliffs with their various formations jutting out reminded me a bit of Zion National Park—but much greener. It was so good to be walking among trees again.

At the first cave I encountered an interesting group of young people who looked and sounded very international. I spoke to several of them at the viewpoint. They are part of a group of 75 university students from 56 countries who are in China to teach English to children for six weeks. The students I spoke to are from Turkey, Nigeria, Mauritius, Cambodia, French-speaking Canada, and Malaysia. I enjoyed meeting and chatting with them.

We could see buildings in the middle of some of the cliffs across from the viewpoint, which made me curious. I later discovered that they are temples built in caves in the cliffs. There are good paths up to them. 

The most famous is the Guilin cave that has been a temple for 1700 years. The main room has hundreds of images on the altar and in niches on the walls.

By 2:00, after five hours of walking up and down, I was tired. There was one path I hadn’t gone up, but I knew it would be too much and had the good sense to stop. Back in my room, I crashed. I realized that I didn’t feel very well and slept for the rest of the afternoon, which was good.

Friday morning I left a little earlier. When I got to the main street, a woman in a café across the street motioned for me to come over for breakfast. She had fresh tofu and the bean porridge that I like. I chose the tofu and a piece of mantou/ steamed bread. When I finished, the shuttle bus came by; so I got on and told them my destination: Dalong Qiu, a waterfall. After a minute, they told me to get out and pointed to a rickshaw, indicating that I should take it. I tried to negotiate with the driver, but he wouldn’t budge. I had no idea where or how far the waterfall is; so I couldn’t determine if his price was good or not. Then he got out a map and showed me how far it is, and I decided that the price was OK. He was quite friendly and pointed out a few other places to me, one of which looked interesting but I kept with my decision to visit the waterfall. The ride took half an hour; so the 30 RMB/$5 fee was quite reasonable.

Unlike the area I was in on Thursday, this part of the park had a lot of vendors after the entrance selling both food and souvenirs. 

Two vendors had a special treat:  small baskets of sweet black sticky rice. I hadn’t seen that before, and, since I like black rice, I had to try one.

Dragon Waterfall itself is very high but I didn’t find it very beautiful. Maybe it’s more beautiful when it has more water. 

However, the walk to it through the wooded area and the jutting rocks is lovely and the area around the waterfall was cool. 

There are a lot of rock formations jutting upward as well as the surrounding cliffs themselves. 

The down part of the walk was that the lens on my camera got stuck in the extended position and would not move, meaning that it doesn’t work. It was frustrating because it had been working fine all morning and suddenly just stopped.  I still had the phone camera, but I don’t like using it because I’m often shooting blindly, as I can’t see anything on the screen. And I do like my camera better. Oh, well.

On the way back to town, I decided to stop at the place the driver had recommended: Fanxinluyan. I hadn’t realized that there are cable cars to the middle of the cliff where the walk begins, much easier than walking. The views of the gardens in the valley below and surrounding mountains from the cable car are breathtaking. The walk carved out of the cliff is easy—flat. 

There are a few Taoist caves with temples in them. 

There is a suspension bridge between two cliffs. 

There are a couple pools—one of which is called a lake but isn’t anything I would call a lake—formed by water dropping from the cliffs above. One has a turtle with a bucket. When a coin is thrown into the bucket, the water bubbles start and the turtle in the back moves along a track. It was fun to see this happen a few times.

And the views of the valley below are beautiful—so lush and green. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen so much green. I was glad I’d decided to take this walk.

Keeping with the plan to take it easy, I returned to the hotel at 2:30 to relax during the heat of the day. On the shuttle, the attendant asked where I was going. I told her. Then she asked again in English. I told her again. The third time she asked and I answered she got the idea; I wasn’t pronouncing Leqing quite correctly. When I got off the shuttle in town, it was really hot. It hadn’t felt so hot walking on the shaded cliff. My sinus problem was better but not completely over. At least I still had energy after the activities and just needed to relax, not sleep.

In the evening, I decided to take in the Linfeng Scenic Area night walk, which is highly advertised and recommended. It requires a separate ticket that is the same price as the day ticket even though the walk is only about half an hour long. I thought it was overpriced, but they have a good thing going. Since it was Friday night, the weekend tourists had arrived and the walk was crowded. Between the number of people, the tour guides’ amplified narration, and people flashing their laser lights onto the peaks, the magical nighttime atmosphere was lost most of the time. However, I did manage to find a bit of it. It really is different from the day time atmosphere. No photos, as the phone doesn’t take photos in the dark, but I did take a photo of the picture on the ticket.

When I returned to town to eat dinner, I had to try four places before one would serve me. I wanted fish, so I was looking only at places that had fish in tanks. The first one was very busy. The woman asked if I was eating, and I said I was. Then she took her customers upstairs. When she returned, she took care of a group of men who came after I did. When she finished with them, I moved closer and looked at her. She wouldn’t look at me and took care of two men. So I left. I can take being ignored only so long, and I’m not good at being as pushy as many Chinese. I don’t know if she didn’t want to deal with a foreigner or if the problem was that I am one person and they were too busy to deal with that. The next place just waved me away; I don’t know if they were closed or if they didn’t want to deal with a foreigner. The woman at the third place didn’t want to understand me and pointed to a place across the street. At the fourth place I said the same thing I’d said at the third place, but the man understood and I had a delicious fish cooked in ginger and garlic sauce and some delicious eggplant. The difference was that he was willing to try to communicate with me and serve me.

Saturday morning I decided to take a last, short walk before leaving. After porridge at the breakfast place, I headed to the stairs outside the main park that I had skipped on Thursday. I walked up the mountain for about half an hour and then returned down. I sat for a while enjoying the solitude (I saw only one man and two other women on the path.) and looking across at the rocks instead of up at them. The quiet solitude was especially nice and was only interrupted for the few minutes when a tour guide’s amplified voice came wafting upwards. Hearing that made me glad I wasn’t in the main park, since it was much busier than on Thursday, judging by the number of buses and cars in the parking lot. The walk was a good way to start the day and finish my time on Yandangshan.

After relaxing in my room for an hour, I headed for the shuttles to the train station. As the young woman had told me, Yandangshan is probably not an exceptional mountain, but I enjoyed my time there. “Normal” can be good. It was a good break between cities.