I’ve been wanting to visit this park almost since the day I got here. It surrounds a fairly tall peak, atop which is a pagoda that’s lit up at night. All of my fellow teachers have told me the park is huge and beautiful…except for the zoo. Apparently there’s a horribly sad zoo where they keep lions in a concrete enclosure the size of our kitchen. I managed to avoid it, lest I burst out crying.
I also experienced a first today — I’ve been told it’ll happen again. A complete stranger asked to take a photo with me.
AND. You’ll see one very bad photo I managed to snap of a butterfly. Huge, magnificent butterflies like you have never SEEN. They were such divas — none would stop and pose.
I don’t know what this is either: best guess is a piece of military equipment.
Inside the pagoda.
Going upstairs.
View from the top!
The building with the crazy glass roof is the Zhongshan Expo Centre. It’s enormous.
The two tall grey buildings are Ocean Plaza. At their base is Carre Four, the big supermarket we do most of our shopping at, and lots of takeaway shops — McDonalds, KungFu (China’s KFC), Bubble tea, and Starbucks, to name a few.
Hibiscus!
Rose garden.
View down the steps to the main entrance.
Rose garden.
Path up to the pagoda.
I’m pretty sure this is bamboo!
Hibiscus shrubs growing UP the embankment.
The first character is “mountain.” That’s all I’ve got.
Trees I don’t recognise.
First peak at the top of the mountain.
The pagoda.
Those are cannons. I don’t know why they’re here, or what they represent.
View north from the base of the pagoda.
Closer to the cannons.
Looking east.
Look on the fence…that’s a butterfly.
Pond with VERY TALL lily pad leaves.
Bridge that zig zags over the pond.
Could not tell you.
This either. They’re in the same pond as the zodiac, but set away from them.
Heather Morrow 