The Trip To "Ningbo"

(Or, Weekend Escape To The Coast, Part 1)

After finishing all 5 seasons of The Wire, I had no reason to spend time at home with my now-useless DVD player. So when my company advertised a 2-day weekend excursion, I needed no persuading. I'd actually been waiting quite a while for the chance to see Ningbo, a bustling port along the Eastern coast of China. Excited at the prospects of visiting the city, most especially because it was the site of one of Zheng He's shipbuilding operations, which crafted the megaships used on his pre-Columbus global voyages, I had built up a sizable adventure in my imagination that was unfortunately too grand to be realized.

Once I read the fine print, I noticed that we weren't going to Ningbo city at all (we drove through it though!). Instead, we would spend a good amount of time in scenic nature spots around Ningbo that nobody had ever heard of, with a few historic sights tossed in for good measure. As the old addage goes, beggars can't be choosy. Perhaps I've gotten too accustomed to settling for less throughout these years, because I was just happy to be leaving the confines of the city for a couple days.

Departing from our Soviet-style commune bloc at an ungodly Chinese-tour-group hour, we boarded our bus, overcome with happy anticipation for a weekend of fun and excitement. This feeling lasted for about ten seconds. To my horror, the man in the seat next to me looked to be over 250 pounds, the skin on his limbs taut and smooth, like over-packed sausages about to pop if left on the grill for too long. Dude was solid. Like most large people, his breathing didn't come so easily, requiring a kind of suck-snore that was luckily drowned out by my trusty iPod. This being China, seats on transport aren't that wide, so his glorious girth overflowed to my area, squashing me into the window without even trying. To his credit, he tried to give me space, but he was so damn meaty that those moments of sweet bodily freedom were few and far between. Four hours of this claustrophobic mess was going to be quite a test.

After a couple hours of driving, interspersed with a few instances where the dozing fat man used my body as a mattress, crushing me so far into the window that I was in danger of bonding with the glass, we arrived at our first sight: the Hangzhou Bay Bridge. Opened for service on May 1, 2008, this is the world's longest trans-ocean bridge, spanning about 40 kilometers and taking 30 minutes to cross. And what a bridge it is. Aside from the unfortunately hideous color scheme used on the rails (seriously, aesthetics are about as important as manners in this country...), the cable-bridge is an engineering marvel. Costing almost 12 billion RMB (over 1 million USD) to build and 5 years to complete, it has cut the travel time between Shanghai and Ningbo from four hours to two (and travel distance from 400 km to 80km...). Take that, puny Western bridges: the Hangzhou Bay Bridge is the ultimate stroke of Chinese engineering phallic compensation.

Idiots on Parade

Crossing the bridge, the first thing you notice is just how stupid some people can be. Slowing down to a crawl in middle lane traffic is, needless to say, extremely unsafe. Stopping on the side of a bridge to snap pictures of a brown ocean and white sky is also unnecessary. Hanging out of the window (or skyroof) to take pictures of the nothingness, while your car is barreling along at 60 km/hr, is likewise ill-advised. I was having more fun marveling at the parking lot that had formed in the right-most lane, a procession of people stopping along a fully functional highway to get out of their cars to snap a few pictures of the lovely polluted expanse surrounding us.

Not A Parking Lot...

After about 5 minutes, the wonder of it all gets a little old. Unless you are an engineering nerd or have a strange bridge fetish, a half hour of driving through nothing is super boring. In a fitting twist of disappointment, the rest areas on both ends of the bridge - supposed to offer comfort and refreshment after such arduous driving - were not supplied with anything related to food or beverage. Just bathrooms, empty buildings, and anticlimax.

Our drive continued for another couple hours, during which time, my bus partner and I got to know each other a little better, his armpit sweat slowly soaking into the part of my T-shirt covering my shoulder. Romantic indeed.

We finally arrived in Zhedong, a small valley town in Haining which was surprisingly reminiscent of the Wuyi Mountain area in southern Fujian province. Nestled amongst tall mountains covered in deep green forest, cut by clear flowing rapids rushing into a wide reservoir, the Zhedong canyon was a great surprise, due in large part to the glorious weather. I don't remember the last time my eyes had the pleasure of enjoying an actual blue sky, but I can confidently say it's been months. Combined with the glaring brightness of the sandy boulders, the glimmering streams of crystal clear water, the lush vegetation and the hot springtime sun, it was precisely the scenery we were seeking.

Zhedong Reservoir: Don't know how clean the water is...

Oh Engrish! I just can't help myself

One of my favorite pleasures in life is relaxing barefoot in a mountain stream. Climbing down from the rickety pathway that was barely attached to the hillside, we stumbled along hundreds of white-hot stones burning the pads of pale-white feet, feeling the first blast of icy cold mountain water as we dipped in our toes. A simple sensation that can make you forget about the world outside the valley. On the list of memorable travel moments in my life, these usually rank high on the charts. This instance was no different. The weekend's travels were worth it for that half-hour of peace and solitude.

Precarious Outcrop

Twirling Swirls

Isn't That In America?

Refreshed and content, we dried off our feet and slowly made our way back. Having had a few hours of exercise to burn off lunch, we exited the valley and continued our quest forth to the quiet mountain town of Xikou, the birthplace of Chiang Kai-shek.

Part 2, coming soon...

More pictures below. What good would a trip be without some jumping? =)