Summer Discovery - Longfeng, China

Summer Discovery - Longfeng, China
DaqingDevil Jul 20, 2013 09:35

The weather has been real Aussie BBQ type days although the humidity is not to my liking. In winter the weather can best be described as dry, humidity wise, so you don’t get that sweaty body from wearing too many clothes. Summer? Well with the Daqing area being part of a huge wetland system I suppose evaporation causes humidity to skyrocket. It was 94% the other day, hardly worth getting out of the shower in the morning. Yesterday it also poured rain, all day. What a mix! Reminds me of Melbourne, Australia! In any case this is much better than bloody winter here!

 

I really miss having BBQ’s here and while the Chinese version is available almost everywhere, it’s just not the same. Maybe one of the reasons is that they have no idea how to cut meat here. Trying to find a steak of any sort in this whole city is like looking for the noodle in the snake pit. Also the BBQ’s themselves are not made of a nice steel plate over heat. They look more like industrial guttering torn off some roof, one side opened up, insert coal, light, fan feverishly and place some kebabs over the flames or embers, turn, add spices as they cook, then serve.

 

 Mind you, very tasty and washed down with a cold beer it can come close to being at home. Sitting outside in the courtyard at my regular BBQ place was pretty relaxing. The weather was cool after the day’s torrential downpour, probably drowned most mozzies, and if I had some company that I could talk footy, women and work with it would have been great. But a foreigner, on his own, sitting, eating, drinking, is going to be the subject of a whole lot of curiousity. And so it proved. I just smile and say “Nihao” and that gets a smile back and a nod. I actually know a lot of the people by sight so I was getting “Hello’s” anyway from many. Nice.

 

On the Sunday just gone, the weather was absolutely perfect. Cloudless, blue sky, about 20C and reasonably quiet, as Sundays anywhere should be. Forecast was for 30C so I had a bacon (xūn ròu) and eggs (jīdàn) brekky with mushrooms (mógu )and toast as a change from fresh fruit and yoghurt. We never usually get Sundays off in the normal school term as they are lesson days. It’s normally a Monday day off. Summer classes had just started on the Friday. I decided to explore the famous Longfeng Park a few people had mentioned to me and the forlorn entrance which I had seen a few times going past in a taxi. I packed a bottle of water and a camera, applied sunscreen, climbed on the bike and embarked on my mini adventure!

 

What an enchanting place! I can’t imagine how the government has allowed this place to stop functioning with all buildings closed, the little boats that were used on the lake all stacked near a building and now full of rainwater and rusting away, wonderful fountains and waterfalls all non-operational and lakes and ponds all with dirty brown water and growing algae. Magically a section that still had huge water lilies was not only surviving but was still flowering in all its beauty.

 

 

 

 

The place was obviously still being maintained to the extent of grass being mowed and bushes and shrubs being clipped and what was really noticeable – no rubbish to be seen anywhere. Also no people! Well in a park that size on such a beautiful day it should be packed, like Beihai park in Beijing. In Longfeng Park there are those Chinese-like structures of covered rotundas and walkways constructed over the water with quaint bridges. Wonderful walking paths were everywhere and you could read the paper or a book in a specially made arbor in the shade. There was an elephant statue and also statues of 2 giraffes placed so they looked like they were eating off the lower branches of
the trees.

 

Giraffes

I came across a total of 8 people as I rode my bike everywhere. I made sure I covered every path so that I didn’t miss anything. This goes down as one of my most memorable summer excursions in 3 years in China and I didn’t even leave my neighbourhood! I must find a way to write to the government department concerned and ask why this place was abandoned. Or, wait a minute! Are the people of this city too busy shopping, living and surviving to make time to walk in the local park so the local government stopped providing services there? I have found the perfect place for a picnic so maybe it can remain my little secret.

 

 

 

 

 

Tags:Travel Language & Culture Expat Tales Lifestyle

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