QianDaoHu Natural Mirror

Hey wassup fellows now it’s coming to near the end of our stay in Hangzhou… Time for another week of fun and games WOOOHOOOO!

So after we just ended our final presentation yesterday, immediately we got ourselves ready to bounce to Beijing! Oh man I’ve never seen Beijing and the Great Wall before. *Acts like a crazed fan* But guess what, like I said before life doesn’t always give you what you want, and so when we reached, we found out that the typhoon that has been so ramphant along the East Coast of China was passing right through Hangzhou, so all outward bound trains were cancelled ☹ and that included our trip to Beijing ☹☹. We were disappointed, like VERY disappointed because we had been looking forward to the trip ever since we came back from the first trip. But well like they said, for every door closed, a new door would open. In fact for us, three such doors opened, because we were able to visit more places and immerse ourselves in different types of sceneries.

First up on our *amended* checklist was to go to the local wonder the Thousand Island Lake. (千岛湖). Now this place was just amazing, with the variety in sceneries, ranging from aesthetical urban buildings, calming rivers and lakes. One would think that it was pretty far away from each other. And well they are far away from each other, but we got mountain bikes! Honestly that’s a first, but definitely a recommended activity for all who wishes to enjoy the full experience in QianDaoHu. (Either that or stay for about 5 days)

We started from the bike rental shop and headed towards our hotel, which was about 12km away. It was a little daunting because a bike belonged on the road. But like they say, a journey started is one that’s half completed. The resulting journey was definitely worthwhile, given that we started with the late afternoon Sun along the cityscape of QianDaoHu, cycled past the architectural buildings along the mountain-waterway, thru the lovely view of sunset across numerous lakes and lastly, night cycling into the urban area once again.

In terms of the meals, what is a thousand lakes good for without a thousand types of fishes? Ok maybe there may not be a thousand fishes, but we had fish for every meal. And given that it was fish, every meal is decently priced at around 12 SGD per person. For the entire meal. And after eating a fish, it’s time to catch a fish!… Or if it was as easy as it sounded. We decided to fish ourselves and prove that we can eat our own fish. In the end, we got baited and things didn’t go our way because we ended with a whooping amount of 0 catches ☹. Well an experience was an experience (for most of us anyway) and who knows, I’ll be able to bait fish decently someday.

One last impression the place had on me was the alcohol culture in place. (I’m sorry please don’t take away my exchange scholarship.:’)) But anyway, QianDaoHu was also home to one of the most reputable beer in the world, the QianDaoHu Beer. It was so rampant to a point that the hotel we stayed in offered free alcohol to its guests and possibly to those that weren’t. This could be seen in the people as well, selling and marketing their beer in every restaurant we went to. Being the responsible adults, we were, we did not drink (irresponsibly), but it was just impressive to see how a culture could connect a community and bring out such pride in the community. Looking at it from a global perspective, perhaps what is needed for a new generation of adults in Singapore is more than just co-existance or respect for one another’s community. What we need may very well be one large culture that can invoke the pride of the community, one that all Singaporeans can be proud of.

Lastly, this has been a scenic trip in China, one that would stay in my memories for quite a long time. It was a waste that we did not manage to visit the forest, missing out on the slide especially, but that just leaves me with the desire to visit the place a second time, this time with my partner. But for those looking at a short getaway (2 – 3 days), QianDaoHu is the place to be.

And next time, a quick (not really) introduction to the famed HuangShan!

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