Big sightseeing day today. First destination The Millennium Theme Park at Kai Fen. It's a bit like a Chinese version of Alton Towers without the rides but with a modicum of taste. Then lunch in Zhengzhou, followed by a visit to the famous Shaolin Temple at Shaolinsi. This is, I am told, the very spot where Kung Fu was first practised and developed. Rather a lot of photos (over 160) today, but I'll only be able to manage a represenative sample on my blog, I'm afraid. It is very slow getting them up there.
But let's start at the beginning. Nigel (the language teacher from Hull) has an appartment just across Zhongyuan Street, on the university campus , so he came over to my hotel where Shuai collected us at 8.30 am prompt. She'd arrived by taxi driven by a friend, Mr Fan, who they often hire for trips out. A very nice chap. Nigel knows him too. He would be accompanying us for the day; later, en route to the Shaolin Temple, we were joined by his wife, who owns a hairdressing salon.
To get to the theme park we had an hour or so's drive out to the south-west of Zhengzhou. On the way we passed one of that city's building developments. It probably took us 15 minutes to pass by it, and as far as the eye could see in every direction were tower blocks and gantry cranes. And these places are not intended for the hoy poloy, either. They are (or will be) luxury developments with a capital "L". You just wonder who will be buying/renting them. Of course much of it will be office space. At any rate, it really does bring home the break-neck speed at which China's economy is growing.
Part of our journey to the theme park took us along a motorway. You won't believe the motorways - unless you've been to China already. They are swish, wide toll roads. But there, any similarity with most western equivalents ceases. They are not all that busy, perhaps because of the tolls. But this is probably just as well, because they are shared by all manner of things, including dogs, phut-phuts U-turners, and people gaily crossing from one carriageway to another - not all of them on foot: I saw a bus cross the central reservation to get to where it wanted to be. That is the only rule here: where you need to be you must go. Don't ever be tempted to come to China and rent a car!
While still on the "motorway" we encountered the latest in private enterprise: at a particular point the traffic had come to an abrupt standstill - about 100 metres ahead - for what looked like an accident. But our taxi quickly wove its way to the front (which the driver is, of course, deft at doing), wherupon we found the way blocked by a motley collection of (I assume) local people. They had stretched a chain across the carriageway and were demanding their own "toll". The line was that their daughter had just been in a serious accident at this spot, and had needed hospital treatment so they, in turn, needed our money to pay for it. Of course, there is no way of checking the authenticity of the story. Shuai very reluctantly paid up and we were let through. Now there's clever, eh? Less than 30 seconds further on we passed a large police depot. That means very little. For example, I'm told police cars are pretty low down the "pecking order" when it comes to what type of vehicle takes priority for any available road space. In all probability they would merely have been charged double the price!
Well anyway, we got to the Millennium Park, where various touts tried to sell us reduced tickets for carparking, etc. You will understand this is a very popular destination for day-trippers.
Here are some snippets ...
Above: this was just inside the main entrance.
There are various shows (performances) scheduled in different parts of the park at different times throughout the day. The first was to be "skilled arts". To get to that bit we took a nice gentle boat ride.
Above right: Shuai; left: that's not me without my glasses and beard - it's Nigel.
Above right: that's me. Imagine if Mike B, Nigel and I all worked in the same department. The students would be totally confused! By the way, note the life-jackets. At least here safety is treated with some seriousness.
And so to the "skilled arts". This was Mr Whiplash. He could do things like flick out a cigarette from the mouth of his accomplice ...
Now this little guy really used his head.
Among other things, he climbed this staircase by "jumping" from step to step. No hands.
And talk about leaning over backwards to please ...
You can just about see her head there somewhere. Fair brings tears to the eyes!
Speaking of which, this fire-eater literally did have tears in his eyes by the end of his performance.
He managed to get some of the liquid (paraffin) into his eyes, and it was obvious he was suffering quite badly.
Some general views:
Above: part of the "Ancient Wedding" ritual. The daughter of a wealthy family, seeking a husband, is brought onto the balcony by her father, who addresses the throng in booming tones . She taunts the audience for a while, and eventually hurls the red groom's gown into the crowd. The person catching it is, of course, to be her husband. There is much scrabbling, and a beaming middle-aged, bespectacled gentleman is successful. He is led away for enrobement, before being paraded on the balcony. Then the bride throws down handfuls of sweets and all hell lets loose!
Now, if you're looking for a great reason to visit China, I can think of no better one than this ...
The pictures don't do it justice: what you can't easily tell from them is that Nigel and I were constantly being mobbed by the large groups of schoolchildren that were on their day trips. They waved and shouted "hello" and "how are you?" - in English, of course - and every last one of them wanted to shake our hands and have their pictures taken. Well, perhaps this shot of Nigel (if you can spot him) will give you a bit of an idea:
The kids are truly delightful. They will provide the best future for this country. No doubt about it. And it was hugely touching to be treated like an international celebrity! I suppose to them we were, really.
Of course, China does have one or two other attractions....
We lunched in a Muslim restaurant in Zhengzhou, where we had our own bamboo-lined dining room.
Lunch itself was based on the Zhengzhou special noodles that Shuai and I had been too full to eat on the precious day, together with a stew of assorted halal meats and vegetables.
It was quite late in the afternoon by the time we got to Shaolinsi, and despite its being set among low rolling hills in open coutryside, the ubiquitous smog followed us all the way. But it was still I would say around 20-22 degrees. Mr and Mrs Fan (the taxi-driver and the hairdresser) didn't come into the temple with us, but I thought it would be nice for you to see them:
The Temple grounds are enormous, and we had a very long walk from the car-park. Our route took us past several large arenas where youths were busily competing in (or possibly practising) their various marshall arts:
Because it is taking an aboslute age to upload each photograph, I'll just leave you with two or three shots from within the temple itself. There are more!
Above: Shuai enjoying her favourite occupation - talking on her mobile!
Bye for now.
M
x
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