Hello again!
The roomies and I had to wake up at the unearthly hour of 0530 today for a trip down to the 东湖(East Lake) and 黄鹤楼 (Yellow Crane Tower). The good thing was we actually woke up to our alarms and not to the OST of the streets as usual.
Took a bus down to East Lake first, and was given about an hour or so to take in the scenery around the area. I liked walking around the East Lake, it was especially serene, and the air was really fresh there, which is rare when it comes to China. It also reminded me a lot of the Chinese Gardens back home, probably due to the similarity in structures.
The Boss (a.k.a Group A's Leader) and Yuhaw in the bus.
This is my boss trying to sleep...in his bag.
After the hour-long ride to 东湖(East Lake) with the tourguide who gave us a little background of the place, we arrived! I didn't catch much of what the tourguide said, though. I slept throughout the ride. Pity, because I usually like hearing about a place before I actually visit it.
Gates of 东湖 from the outside and the in.
You'd think this a green lawn, but it seriously wasn't. Brenda and I took a close look at it and it was just hardened moss and algae (?). Weirder thing was we threw a stick in to see what will happen and it got stuck. Whaaaaaat.
The view across 东湖. I really love that it's so serene here with the air so fresh.
Lots of old men fishing along 东湖. Their fishing rods were long and different from the usual ones I see in Singapore. Honestly, I won't be surprised if I found out they made it themselves.
Some Korean words I saw around, "대국 실", which translates to "real power". Curious.
After 东湖, our next stop was Hubei Provincial Museum (湖北省博物馆), where most of the artifacts showed us the ancient past of Hubei, which was also known as 楚国, or the State of Chu. The relics apparently belonged to a Marquis Yi of Zeng (曾侯乙), who was a minor state surbordinate.
This gadget is almost equivalent to what they have in the National Museum of Singapore. The differennce is that in NMS, the descriptions are pre-recorded, while this gadget here actually just transmits whatever the guide is saying into our own earpiece. I love how museums are using higher and new technology to get us interested in old relics. Hmm.
Some arrows on display, also found in Marquis Yi's tomb.
The guys spare 4 minutes for muzik (K-pop pun, heh).
Next stop, the well-known Yellow Crane Tower, 黄鹤楼. Apparently there're two legends surrounding this tower, which includes an Immortal riding off a mountain on a yellow crane, which caused this tower to be built in commemoration. Another legend another Immortal who would stop on Snake Mountain after riding on yellow cranes.
None of them sounded too feasible to me, but I always enjoy the odd Chinese myth and the lessons that they give. This legend doesn't really have much of a lesson, but it did give me a chance to enjoy Chinese structures and their accompanying patterns, which brings me never-ending joy.
I like Chinese literature too, but my Mandarin has never been fluent enough to understand them. This I got from Wikipedia, and is a poem of Li Bai involving the Yellow Crane Tower.
"Seeing off Meng Haoran for Guangling at Yellow Crane Tower"(黄鹤楼送孟浩然之广陵).
故人西辞黄鹤楼，My old friends said goodbye to the west, here at Yellow Crane Tower,烟花三月下扬州。In the third month's cloud of willow blossoms, he's going down to Yangzhou.孤帆远影碧空尽，The lonely sail is a distant shadow, on the edge of a blue emptiness,唯见长江天际流All I see is the Yangtze River flow to the far horizon.
Just thought I'd share a relevant poem.
At a tourist attraction, you'd think they'd try a little harder with the English. Nonetheless, I guess I should lower my standards when I'm in a foreign land where the first language isn't English.
Stopped at a souvenir store to get some drinks and shade, but we spotted this man selling glass bottle gourd bottles (葫芦). I initially thought it was anohter one of the tourist-y things out to cheat your money, but apparently he does calligraphy on the inside of a bottle!
What you do is find the zodiac of the person this bottle gourd is going to belong to, and write down their name for this calligrapher to write on the inside of the bottle gourd. It's supposed to bring good luck, health and fortune. (But then again, honestly, which Chinese ornament doesnt...?)
Nonetheless, decided to get one done for my Mum to surprise her (so if you're family reading this, don't tell her. I'm looking at you, Dajie.). The calligrapher and my tour guide who was near actually kept saying how pretty mum's name was.
The calligrapher apparently studies names too, as a form a interest. He mentioned that my mother's maiden name, "彭" (Peng) translates to something big, while the "音" (yin), translates to music. Both words are strong and active (?), but are neutralised by the word "婵" (chan), which means graceful. I guess what he means is that my mum has a very well-balanced name? It cost about RMB10 by the way, which was why I was actually convinced to get one.
Left the souvinirs store after a good 20 minutes and proceeded up to the Yellow Crane Tower under the unmerciful hot weather.
The red temple gates actually holds a large bell that visitors apparently can strike for a small fee. I wanted to head there initially, but ran out of time. :/
A curious little (?) soccer ball atop one of the many crowded buildings.
Us and our aviators whoo.
Shiling, Weilin, Haoteng and half a Yuchuan.
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Personal Reflections:
One of the interesting things I've noted today; cigarette packs. While smokers are slowly being pushed out to the streets in Singapore, the locals here are still free to smoke anywhere they want; in restaurants, shopping malls, the streets. It's certainly one of the many things we still have to adapt to; breathing in secondhand smoke while you're shoppping.
The amusing thing was that since 2004, cigarette packaging in Singapore has turned to using graphic and slightly disturbing images to discourage citizens from smoking. These images were mostly focused on damaged organs and cancer.
On the other hand, I noticed today that some of China's cigarette packages actually have the ligature "囍" (double happiness) printed on them. "囍" is usually associated with Lunar New Year, weddings and other auspicious events. A little ironic seeing how smoking actually causes death, no?
