A day in Zhongshan 中山, China
Sunday, 17 March 2013 12:11![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elusivekI spent yesterday with a friend on a company-sponsored day trip to Zhongshan 中山, some 50 or 60km north-ish of Macau.
I got to skip my morning dog-walk duty because I had to have crossed the border already by 7:45am for the meet up. But then again, I forgot, the passport lane is usually empty in the early morning, so I had quite some time to spare.
As everybody likes photos, I'll do less talking and more showing :-)
The bus drive up was uneventful. We passed by the city, then we passed by the sea line, and then to some more rural area.
Our first stop was at a group of Chinese temples. I commented to my friend that the temple looked awfully new, and asked aren't Chinese temples supposed to be built where people believe where a god is at? My friend explained that no, a Chinese temple can be built anywhere, because you can invite a god to reside in the temple. I have no photos of the inside of the temples, sorry. My monthly friend was visiting, and Chinese temples have a rule that you can't enter when your friend is here. While nobody can verify that, but, I'll do as the Romans do when in Rome.
Around the area there were a lot of fields... maybe paddy or rice fields? I'm not sure...
Then it was back to the bus, and we headed to an Aloe factory or manufacturer. These people here swear by the greatness of the Aloe. We knew that this would be a shopping trap (all tours have such stops) and we were adamant we weren't going to buy anything. But we were hungry, so when they said they have a birds' nest aloe coconut and papaya sweet soup dessert and a coconut pudding, we went for it. I asked them to skip the birds' nest though, but it was a no-go as it's all made already and they just ladle it out for you... They had a bunch of products like Aloe toothpaste, Aloe vinegar, Aloe toner (make-up). We just said no to everything. Yay.
The tour had a lunch included. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't something to tell home about either. The restaurant and the area were just standard affair so I didn't take any photos.
Next we went to visit a base for an ethnic minority group called the 布衣族人. I couldn't find a proper translation. Google translate gives me an unhelpful translation of "Commoner tribe". The Wiki List of Ethnic Groups in China doesn't help me much.
*** Edit *** After some search-work and guess-work, I found them! They are the Bouyei People.
We were made to walk over those bamboo sticks... We were supposed to dance over it (I think I've seen something like that in some Thai tourism program) but then nobody wanted to try to they just let us walk over it. Talked about some brief history, showed us their colourful wares (of course we didn't buy any) and then, they sent us into a room and let us try 4 types of tea.
Then they didn't let us go until we bought something. It was a battle of wits, but it was this battle that we sorely lost. My friend ended with 2 tins of tea and I with 1.
As I left, dejected, for my loss (RMB$200!!!! +/- USD$30!!!) I met a new friend :-)
After that, the tour brought us to some farmland or whatever. It was fruit picking time. We could pick as much fruits as we like, just we had to eat them on spot. Any take-aways would have to be paid. Which sounded fine, until we went to the orchard in question. It was... a guava orchard. I don't dislike guava, but it's not a fruit I'd eat too much of. Anyway, I didn't pick any because there was a guy there peeling and chopping freshly picked guava, and I took 2 pieces and walked away.
Just opposite were other kinds of farms. There was a sub-section of a fish farm where you could bring your fishing pole and gear and fish for the day. On the other side of the road was more other fields with cabbage or whatever.
The last stop was to a department store where not everything was fully opened yet. There was nothing to see in the department store, so we went outside and snacked at those food stalls outside. A little dangerous when in China, but well, it is still city, so I guess it was fine. I feel good today, so there's that.
Another half hour bus ride back to Gongbei 拱北 and we were free to go. Oh, but before we left, we were given each one a box of guavas, complimentary from the tour.
Wow... all that for just MOP$40 (+/- USD$5)
I did lose at the ethnic minority camp, but aaarrrgggghhhhh I'm just annoyed when I think about that.
We went down to the shopping dinner, had a quick dinner in a Korean place, then went to change the screen protectors of our iPhones and headed back to Macau.
I got to skip my morning dog-walk duty because I had to have crossed the border already by 7:45am for the meet up. But then again, I forgot, the passport lane is usually empty in the early morning, so I had quite some time to spare.
As everybody likes photos, I'll do less talking and more showing :-)
The bus drive up was uneventful. We passed by the city, then we passed by the sea line, and then to some more rural area.
Our first stop was at a group of Chinese temples. I commented to my friend that the temple looked awfully new, and asked aren't Chinese temples supposed to be built where people believe where a god is at? My friend explained that no, a Chinese temple can be built anywhere, because you can invite a god to reside in the temple. I have no photos of the inside of the temples, sorry. My monthly friend was visiting, and Chinese temples have a rule that you can't enter when your friend is here. While nobody can verify that, but, I'll do as the Romans do when in Rome.
Around the area there were a lot of fields... maybe paddy or rice fields? I'm not sure...
Then it was back to the bus, and we headed to an Aloe factory or manufacturer. These people here swear by the greatness of the Aloe. We knew that this would be a shopping trap (all tours have such stops) and we were adamant we weren't going to buy anything. But we were hungry, so when they said they have a birds' nest aloe coconut and papaya sweet soup dessert and a coconut pudding, we went for it. I asked them to skip the birds' nest though, but it was a no-go as it's all made already and they just ladle it out for you... They had a bunch of products like Aloe toothpaste, Aloe vinegar, Aloe toner (make-up). We just said no to everything. Yay.
The tour had a lunch included. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't something to tell home about either. The restaurant and the area were just standard affair so I didn't take any photos.
Next we went to visit a base for an ethnic minority group called the 布衣族人. I couldn't find a proper translation. Google translate gives me an unhelpful translation of "Commoner tribe". The Wiki List of Ethnic Groups in China doesn't help me much.
*** Edit *** After some search-work and guess-work, I found them! They are the Bouyei People.
We were made to walk over those bamboo sticks... We were supposed to dance over it (I think I've seen something like that in some Thai tourism program) but then nobody wanted to try to they just let us walk over it. Talked about some brief history, showed us their colourful wares (of course we didn't buy any) and then, they sent us into a room and let us try 4 types of tea.
Then they didn't let us go until we bought something. It was a battle of wits, but it was this battle that we sorely lost. My friend ended with 2 tins of tea and I with 1.
As I left, dejected, for my loss (RMB$200!!!! +/- USD$30!!!) I met a new friend :-)
After that, the tour brought us to some farmland or whatever. It was fruit picking time. We could pick as much fruits as we like, just we had to eat them on spot. Any take-aways would have to be paid. Which sounded fine, until we went to the orchard in question. It was... a guava orchard. I don't dislike guava, but it's not a fruit I'd eat too much of. Anyway, I didn't pick any because there was a guy there peeling and chopping freshly picked guava, and I took 2 pieces and walked away.
Just opposite were other kinds of farms. There was a sub-section of a fish farm where you could bring your fishing pole and gear and fish for the day. On the other side of the road was more other fields with cabbage or whatever.
The last stop was to a department store where not everything was fully opened yet. There was nothing to see in the department store, so we went outside and snacked at those food stalls outside. A little dangerous when in China, but well, it is still city, so I guess it was fine. I feel good today, so there's that.
Another half hour bus ride back to Gongbei 拱北 and we were free to go. Oh, but before we left, we were given each one a box of guavas, complimentary from the tour.
Wow... all that for just MOP$40 (+/- USD$5)
I did lose at the ethnic minority camp, but aaarrrgggghhhhh I'm just annoyed when I think about that.
We went down to the shopping dinner, had a quick dinner in a Korean place, then went to change the screen protectors of our iPhones and headed back to Macau.
