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Archives for October, 2016

Saunderton

October 28th, 2016

Here’s a bit of an oddity: going for an adventure on a weekday. I’ve taken a few weeks off work as I’d accumulated a lot of annual leave and wanted to make the most of the good weather. I also wanted to fix a few things in my flat, which turned out to be a bad idea: DIY is not something I should be allowed near. Never mind, I’m sure the builder will be able to sort it out…

Oak tree outside High Wycombe

Oak tree outside High Wycombe

I went for a fairly aimless wander from northwest from High Wycombe to link up with a section of the Ridgeway trail and then looped back to the little country train station at Saunderton.

Not the most ambitious exploration, but the area was lovely and the weather was actually the best we’ve had all month.

Hill above Saunderton

Hill above Saunderton

Changshu

October 26th, 2016

Changshu is a fun little day-trip from Suzhou. I went on a Sunday in between two weeks of working. It’s a small city about 50km northwest of Suzhou, and you can get there easily on a long distance bus which takes an hour. The name 常熟 is a bit funny: it means something like “often ripe”! Anyway there’s three principle attractions: a pagoda, a big hill, and a classical garden. There’s also a scenic lake a little way out of town but I didn’t have time to visit.

Aforementioned pagoda

Aforementioned pagoda

It’s quite a long walk from the bus station to the “cultural” area – maybe it would have been better to take a taxi. But anyway, this is the pagoda, called 方塔 or “square tower”, presumably because all the levels have a square shape rather than usual octagon shape. There are some surrounding gardens to wander around, but there are better classical gardens to visit in Suzhou, and indeed in Changshu.

You have to pay around 10元 extra for a going-up-the-pagoda ticket. I think I’ve written before about my disappointment in pagodas where you’re only allowed to go up to the third or fourth floor, but in this one you’re able to go to the very top! Though you can’t go outside above the fourth floor.

The next attraction I visited was the huge hill to the west of the city called Yushan 虞山.

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On top of the hill

The walk up to the top was surprisingly long and with little of interest apart from the old city walls. The view from the top was quite good though. The Wikipedia article claims there are “18 scenerys” that can be seen in the area. I don’t think I counted that many, but there’s some tombs, a large temple, and this observation rock.

The land around is all very flat, being in the plain south of the Yangtze river. The hill seems to be a bit of a geological oddity. It’s a shame the day was so hazy, otherwise you could probably see a very long way.

I took a taxi back down to the city because I couldn’t be bothered to walk, which turned out to be a good idea because the driver told me I ought to visit another attraction I had previously overlooked, 燕园 “Yan garden”.

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Yan garden

It’s another classical Chinese garden, but a very nice example of one. It was very quiet in the late afternoon, which made it peaceful to walk around. Best bit was this rock formation in the centre with little tunnels you can crouch through.

I took the scenic route back to the bus station, past these old houses next to a canal which are typical of the traditional architecture in the area.

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Heading back to the bus station

“Night Flower Garden” Lacks Flowers

October 22nd, 2016

So this is my fifth trip to Suzhou in the last 12 months and I thought I’d be scraping the barrel of sightseeing activities, but I spotted something new on my tourist map! The “Net Master Garden” that I visited in March has something called 夜花园 or “Night Flower Garden”. I thought maybe they would have some kind of special flower that only blossoms at night, but actually it was more of a cultural thing with dancing and music.

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There was a tour guided bit around various performances and then we were free to wander around. The lighting was very well done and atmospheric. It was also a really clear evening, and you can see the full moon below (it was mid-Autumn festival).

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Some of the traditional music was quite pleasant, like the group below, however I think the “opera” in the local dialect is something of an acquired taste. The older Chinese tourists seemed suitably impressed though.

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Shenzhen

October 17th, 2016

I stayed in Shenzhen for a week last month on another work trip. It’s my first time in that city, and actually I didn’t see a whole lot of it because the time was spent working and going to restaurants. But what I did see was very shiny and new. Probably because the whole city of 10 million people was just a tiny fishing village 30 years ago.

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This is the massive exhibition centre outside my hotel. The air quality here seems much better than the other big cities I’ve visited in China. I think this is because most of the industry is very high-tech and the cars you see on the street are all very modern.

Shenzhen is also famous for its electronics malls selling components of dubious quality. But sadly I didn’t get a chance to visit one this time.

Lamma Island

October 12th, 2016

I was in Hong Kong for a weekend last month before a work trip to Shenzhen. Besides playing a lot of Pokemon Go (I caught a wild Snorlax) I thought I should try going somewhere a little bit off the beaten track so I hopped on a boat to Lamma Island which is just south west of the main island.

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I walked for about four miles between the two main villages, which admittedly isn’t very far but it was really hot and humid. The scenery on the island is dominated by a huge coal power station which takes a bit of getting used to but I suppose fits with the urban/rural mishmash of the rest of Hong Kong.

Here’s a pro tip: in the village Sok Kwu Wan at the end of my route there’s a seafood restaurant called Lamma Rainbow where if you buy anything, even just a soup, they give you a voucher for a free ride back to the main island on their private boat. Not sure how the economics of that work, but the view from the boat was pretty good!

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