Around Ningbo
Ningbo - Taogong Island and lake
I'd been to Ningbo before, but we'd spent most of our time sightseeing right in the centre of the city. There's plenty to see there,but there's much more to see further out. Luckily on this occasion I was the guest of the university - and went by car, so saw a completely different side of Ningbo.
It all started out as a Sunday afternoon visit to Ningbo with the Director of our department, and then I received a post it note with "Pick up 8 am Office. Staying overnight. Back the next day."
So much for my days of rest, but as I was a guest of the Director I went. We had an exhausting, event filled two days. Here are the photos and the rest of the story.
Our first stop was Taogong Island, perhaps 20 minutes from the city itself, and it was here that we watched as our hosts prepared lunch for us. A Chinese Barbecue lunch. The two other foreign teachers and I went for a walk around the area, which was dotted with gardens, including many citrus trees. There were stalls and games and activities for the young at heart near the boat dock. We could see the Dragon Boats at the dock, and learned that after lunch we would head out on the lake for a bit of fun racing the boat.
The various areas around the lake had the most amazing names. "Worldwide Jubilation" "Ascending Luck", "Immense Blessing" and "Rewarding Gains," just to name a few. They do sound very positive!!!
Our lunch was great. It was interesting to see the preparation of the BBQ, by a man with a spray gun filled with some sort of fire accelerant, and soon the BBQ was on the table and our driver did most of the cooking, although we had a hand in turning the food. Chicken and beef on skewers, sweet potato, sweet corn, chicken wings, and fish. There were all sorts of snacks as well. Quite a feast.
After lunch we packed up, and headed for the dock and donned life jackets before heading out on the lake paddling our dragon boat. We did a short circuit of part of the lake, before we were "called in" as they were preparing for some races.
We watched two of the races before heading off to our next destination.
Taogong Island
