Teacher Outing

This past Saturday we had a very typically Chinese teacher outing. Here in China it’s very common for schools to take their teachers out of the city for a bit. Now, I mean common as in once a year and possibly once a semester. Even though Michelle’s school is more of an American school, they’re in China and this is something they decided to do this year. We ended up at a park doing some “mountain climbing” which in China mainly entails walking up some very steep stairs and paved walkways. Just because the way was paved doesn’t mean it wasn’t a hike to get up there. That's a steep slope!

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We had some great views from both the bottom and top of the mountain.
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Once we got near the top, we found a nice lake to have our lunch and enjoy the scenery.

If you click on the image of the lake you might notice that there are little paddle boats out there. They’re actually some of the biggest paddle boats I’ve seen since they’re big enough to carry four passengers while two others paddle with their feet. There was even a table in the middle so you could just paddle to the middle of the lake and enjoy a picnic out there if you like.

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In any park like this you’ll also see locals selling dried and fresh fruit, souvenirs, cold water, snacks, and just about everything else you could imagine.
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After the paddle boats we had just enough time to explore some caves before heading back.

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The hike down was also tiring, but there were more than enough little pagodas to rest in where we could get some shade and gear up for the rest of the climb down