…continued
After we freed our bikes we headed to west lake to look for tickets for a show called “impressions of west lake”. Unfortunately or looking at the bright side - fortunately for me because it resulted in many photo opportunities, we didn’t quite remember where the show was held and not only started at the wrong point but also headed in the wrong direction. Not sure if it’s because it was the weekend or if it’s always that busy but it was just full of activity. There were groups singing, playing flutes and one stringed instruments, tango dancing, playing cards, and the usual throng of tourists of course. Eventually we had walked to a section that we knew was clearly the wrong place and we sat down and pulled out the maps and cell phones and tried again to find more information. This time we were successful but it turned out we were on the complete opposite side of the lake. So we headed back to our bikes and biked around the lake to the ticket office. It’s interesting how things are different with this being our second time here. Last time we almost bought tickets to the show and it was a big deal trying to figure it all out. This time, once we found the ticket office we just went up to the window and asked for two tickets to tonight’s show. Easy-peasy. We had a bit of time to kill before the show so we headed off to find new bike locks. We tried hard to find a small shop to support but no luck and we ended up at Walmart. We now have lights, bells, compasses and locks for our bikes! We found a Korean restaurant for dinner and then headed off to the show. The show itself was a little bit of a letdown after seeing the Impressions light show in Yangshuo in 2011 but it certainly was entertaining. The show has 100s of actors and they have built a stage just under the water so it all takes place on the lake. They use the water and a variety of lights and props and boats to tell the legend (well one of the many legends) of West Lake. To me, part of the entertainment was the audience. Despite being repeatedly told “no cameras” they continued to take pictures and film the show, they talked and took phone calls, it was so ludicrous it became funny. The best part was before the show started, someone sat beside Heidi and after a little bit started measuring his leg length against hers, his shoe size against hers and then tried guessing her height. After the show was over, we waited out the crush of people before heading out ourselves. It’s pretty amazing that they setup and take down the seats, the turnstiles to get in to the show, everything – every night. If you go there during the day there is no sign of the show.
Saturday we teamed up with the other prof and her family again but this time we got an early start to beat the mid-day heat. We biked down (technically it was uphill) to Feilai Feng, or “the Peak that Flew Hither”. As you’ve probably gathered from the photos, the area is known for sculptures of Buddha. It has fantastic caves and hiking trails and we spent a couple of hours exploring the area. The Lingyin temple is also in the park. It’s reported to be “the oldest, the most famous and influential Buddhist monastery in Southeastern China.” It was built in 326. That’s fascinating on its own but it also contains the hall of the 500 arhats as well as the largest wooden Buddhist Statue in China – on my limited internet, I could not find the height of the statue but the hall it is housed in has 30 meter high ceilings. Big sigh – no cameras allowed in any of the buildings.
After lunch, the others went back to the apartment and Heidi and I went up the Northern Peak via cable car and then hiked along the ridge to the first Pagoda. There were a few people hiking the trail and they would yell as they walked – apparently they find it therapeutic. We came across one lady who was rather excited because her husband had stood out on the precipice to take photos. She insisted that we do it as well and I promised that we would on our way down (the pictures show that I kept my promise). Eventually we made our way back to the cable car and back down to our bikes. Yesterday it was my lock, today it was my chain. I didn’t notice at first because it was downhill but when I went to pedal I discovered that my chain had fallen off so we pulled over to the side and Heidi tried fixing it. At first she thought she could just do it with one finger but it turned out that it was off the back cog as well and jammed so it soon became a messy affair. We started gathering a crowd of onlookers and then someone crouched down and said “I will help you” and with the guidance of on older gentleman they indeed fixed my bike! I did have a rag to offer him but I’m afraid it did little to help clean his hands. I still can’t get over how nice it was of him to stop and help us.
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