I was told to be at Xihuan Lu Station at 8:50 and to meet the bus that would take us to Xishan Island and Taihu Lake. Well i did that and was picked up by friends Amy & Lincoln. There were 12 of us on the bus and everyone else worked within the travel industry. Today we were going to look at a several destinations to see if a day tour could be organised in the future. I was the foreign consultant 🙂
Like many old quarries around the world they can become a place where outdoor activities can thrive and this is no exception. There are high rock faces and walking trails, although there are few places that still need a bit of work. We walked along the top of the wall surrounding the newly formed lake which was a lovely blue colour, possibly because of copper deposits, but you had to be careful as it was a long way down.
We wandered through some thick vegetation with thorns, so you had to be very careful or you could get ripped to shreds and then we came into the open and passed through some vegetable patches and on down to the lake again where we found these two old boats, two rusting hulks blending into the winter landscape.
Our next stop is a lovely view point on the edge of the lake where you can see many water birds, although I admit you can’t because we stopped quite far from them.
Time for lunch and as usual you lose count of the amount of dishes that come to the table. When you eat in China there is always so much food, which for me is a good thing because I usually find that I won’t eat about 50% of what arrives on the table, such as chicken feet.
When the bellies are full we head off to the local village on Xishan Island and this is a very pretty place where village life is still much the same as it’s always been. There are not too many tourists yet but of course that will change. There main sources of income are fishing and tea production, which are both seasonal. They are not allowed to fish for more than 6 months of the year.
This is Bob my new 84 year old mate from the village.
The small harbour and in the back ground the 1000 year old tree…
It took 5 of the girls to hug the old tree. After here we went for a lovely stroll around the island looking at the wonderful views and daily life of the locals. A great place to escape to from the hustle and bustle of city life.
Unfortunately we have to leave the relatively peaceful life of Xishan Island and head for the main entrance to the Taihu Lake area and return to city. But we have one more stop and that is to walk along the edge of Taihu lake and if you are lucky enough you can see the sun set over the water, although today we were not so lucky. Just along from the large timber waterwheel there is an abundance of reed beds that attract the local wildlife, but as it’s still winter all we can see are bundles of the reeds stacked along the shore line. They are not allowed to burn them any more and if they are not collected they are often left to rot on the waters edge to break down for the new life to come.
This is a vast lake nearby Suzhou and at weekends and holidays it is packed but to be honest that is what life is like in China but it’s well worth the effort to come out here and wander along the banks of Taihu Lake.
As we head back to the city I am dog tired, but my ears prick up when I here that it’s Pizza for dinner…………it’s been a good day but I’m knackered
