This Weekend

This past weekend flew by. Actually, time in general has gone by incredible fast and before I know it I will be finished teaching and traveling to the northern part of China. On Saturday we boarded a bus to Zhaoqing. We headed straight for the back of the bus where there are five seats in a row perfect for lounging on during the ride. We arrived 2 hours later. After brunch in a very nice but cheap restaurant, we headed towards Star Lake to see the main attraction, the Seven Star Crags Park. In the center of the lake is an island with seven crags, limestone mountains with caves and grottos The seven crags are said to look like the Big Dipper from an aerial vantage point. Street vendors here are really persistent. One lady followed us for 10 minutes as we walked along the pedestrian path next to the edge of the lake. She was trying to sell tickets for a boat ride across the lake to the Island. Not wanting to give into this very pushy and obnoxious lady we found a water taxi company, with an attendant that spoke English and bought a return ticket for 15 RMB to the Seven Star Crags Park. Once on the Island there is of course the park entrance fee, plus additional fees to enter the caves and cross the metal suspension bridge. We decided to fork out the extra money since this is what we came to see. Some highlights from the park include climbing one of the crags to the lookout point, watching the greedy fish with their huge fish lips, seeing the Chinese poetry carved onto the walls of the caves, and walking over the many bridges.

Christine and I went to the plant and animal market. The market had mainly birds and fish and not the kind you eat but the ones you keep as pets. They also had some beautiful fish tanks on display. they also had a wider assortment of plants from silk flowers to potted cacti, water plants and bamboo toporary/pyramids (the same type we have back home). Unfortunately I was too busy enjoying walking through the market and talking with Christine that I didn’t take any pictures. Not sure how the vendors would have reacted anyways since they didn’t care for me taking pictures at the produce and meat market.