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I caught a bus to Zhuanghe, and when I arrived it was snowing and so very cold that after I took my gloves off to make a call at a public phone I had to go back into the bus station and rub my hands for 10 minutes to warm them up again.
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| Wind and snow didn't discourage these road-side merchants in Zhuanghe, who were selling decorations and wall-hangings for the upcoming Spring Festival (as you can see, the colour red dominates). |
But I had time to kill, and on my map was marked an "Ocean Funland" next to the nearby village of Dalayao. I tried to buy a ticket, but the person at the bus station told me to go to "the opposite [something]". While I stood around outside hoping to see a bus that was going in the right direction, two touts approached me to see if I was looking for accommodation. When I said I wanted to go to Dalayao, they tried to pursuade me not to go since no boats would be operating today. But when I finally convinced them that I just wanted to go to the ocean to take a look, they helped me catch a bus there. Even then I wasn't sure if they were actually sending me to Dalayao, or just a random piece of ocean for me to take a look at, but I went along with it anyway. I didn't understand their instructions clearly, but luckily they explained it all to the ticket seller on the bus, and she told me where to get off and catch a different bus.
Gloriously, I did indeed arrive in Dalayao. The water was frozen, and I never did find that Ocean Funland which was on my map. I walked down a long road parallel to the sea, with single-storey homes on each side. In the photo above, you can see a small pig sty to the right, although the pig is in shadow.
The road wound away from the ocean and through some hills. I saw this pavilion and followed a path up to it. It overlooked a small but modern-looking town. With restaurants and accommodation, this settlement was clearly built to service the nearby harbour. But the harbour (not visible in this photo) was ice-locked at the time.
The quaint-looking bridge in the photo is not really made from wood, although it has been painted to look that way. In the photo below, the mark in the snow was left by my bottom as I slid down. It was such fun that I clambered back up and did it again!
Liaoning province has a scenic area called Bingyugou, which some have nicknamed "Little Guilin". In fact I almost went there with friends during the summer, but those plans fell through. Since it's not far from Zhuanghe, I decided to take a look. I caught a bus there, but during the winter months the resort village inside Bingyugou shuts down, so I had to get off at a nearby town called Xianrendong (literally, "fairy cave"). The bus driver knew the owner of the hostel there, and delivered me right to the door. I got a room for the low price of Y15, mind you there was no central heating, only an electric mattress underneath me, so I slept with my beanie on to keep my head warm. Also, the indoor toilet was out of use, but they gave me a bucket for my comfort during the night.
After a warm bowl of noodles, I sat up talking with the owner, Mr Qu. Then he telephoned his cousin, since she's an english teacher, and I ended up going to her family's home for a little while to chat and enjoy their central heating. Her husband (who is a maths teacher) was curious about what life is like for farmers in Australia. Here are some photos of Mr Qu's family and his cousin's family. I made friends with Mr Qu's daughter, even though I couldn't understand her chinese and she couldn't understand mine! Mr Qu has another daughter who is not pictured here. In rural areas, if your first child is a girl then the small print of the "one child policy" permits you to have a second child.
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| Mr Qu, his wife and daughter. | Mr Qu's cousin, her husband and daughter. |
Next morning, the town was quite busy because it was market day. Once every five days the sellers line the main street, their goods laid out on the ground, everything from rice bowls to live roosters.
Since there were no buses to Bingyugou, Mr Qu contacted a friend of his who had a car, and I paid him to take me there. Bingyugou literally means "ice valley stream", and there was certainly lots of ice and snow when I went. Thankfully, the sun had come out. I couldn't go very far into the park because the boats weren't running, and anyway I didn't want to stay long because I was cold and bored. But from a map I could see that, just like any scenic area in China worth its title, Bingyugou is full of mountain paths, small pavilions, and rocks with names. According to the ticket seller at the entrance, autumn is the prettiest time.
