This morning we were very prepared and asked the hostel which buses we needed to take to get to our destination for the day: Dian Chi (Lake Dian). However the placed we asked directions to wasn't actually where we wanted to go - this meant we got to see an extra park (Haigen Park) than we had planned. It also meant we got to see the lake up close, which as you can see was an eye-opening experience: the water was literally bright, toxic green and the boats that were meant to line the shores had sunk beneath the mass of green sludge.
Lake Dian, which is 300sq km, is flat on the eastern side, and to the west are the magnificent Xi Shan (Western Hills) - our original planned destination. 
Because we had headed to Xi Shan in our very typical roundabout way, we were standing on a corner trying to work out where to go, when a lovely Chinese teacher with her 2 children approached and invited us to climb the hill with her. Not knowing where we were going, we followed and ended up exactly where we wanted to be, while gaining some knowledge about Kunming - of particular interest was the fact that 20 years ago Dian Chi was crystal clean and swimming was a favourite pastime - oh how times have changed!
Because we had headed to Xi Shan in our very typical roundabout way, we were standing on a corner trying to work out where to go, when a lovely Chinese teacher with her 2 children approached and invited us to climb the hill with her. Not knowing where we were going, we followed and ended up exactly where we wanted to be, while gaining some knowledge about Kunming - of particular interest was the fact that 20 years ago Dian Chi was crystal clean and swimming was a favourite pastime - oh how times have changed!At the top we strolled through the stalls and found a Chinese Tintin comic book - and even managed to pick up one of Adam's favourite stories - that Liv hopes to decipher and use as a teaching tool on Adam!
We headed up Sleeping Beauty Hill (the mountain resembles reclining women) passing through great grottoes, sculptures, pavillions, and rock corridors all carved into the cliff by Taoist monks in the late 1700s on our way to the Dragon's Gate. Despite the polluted air and rain clouds we got stunning views of the city and lake below us.
After enjoying the views and the wonder of the Dragon's Gate we headed into the minature rock forest before retracing our steps, though much faster on the way down, back through the park to the bus stop. On our way though, we were stopped by many minibus drivers trying to persuade us to go with them back to town - but sticking to our plan we got back for 4 yuan compared to the 50 yuan they were charging! We're not sure if they know about books like the Lonely Planet that give us guidance as to how much things should cost.Finally back at the hostel we offloaded the day bag (well, Adam offloaded), before venturing out for dinner. We found a great little street kitchen where we had a three way bi-lingual conversation with the owner via his gorgeous daughter who could speak some English and Liv using her Chinese. This resulted in us getting what we claim as one of the tastiest meals we have had so far - and we're already thinking about going back tomorrow! At a total of $2, how could you blame us?!
Wandering the streets on the way home, we stopped in at the local bakery for some chocolate truffles for dessert and some bread supplies for lunch tomorrow. As yummy as our bread lunch was today, we then headed for the fruit market for some cheap fruit to go with the bread tomorrow - it is nice to eat something nutrient rich and not coated in oil.
Adlibing it as far away as possible from the toxic sludge to conquer the Dragon's Gate.
1 comment:
For those at home following the adlibers this is a reasonable overview map of China.
www.travelchinaguide.com/map
They are heading for Jinan by September and recently left Micau
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