A Beautiful Island N a City Demolishing itsHistory

Trip Start Jan 01, 2005

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Flag of China Wenzhou - Zhejiang Province, China
Friday, August 24, 2007

Wenzhou City Walk 2

Wenzhou City Walk 4

Wenzhou City Walk 3

Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,

Man, talk about dark curtains!

I planned rise and shine with the sun but each time I woke up it was dark so I thought I'd enjoy more sleep. When I finally woke enough to question the night's length I found it was nearly ten. That's what happens when you get an expensive hotel room cheap! They actually have real curtains and not just cloth that stops people looking in but nothing else like the sunshine.

After a quick chat to Amigo I raced out into the day and made my way down Xincheng Dadao which took me back to the Big City Bus Station where I got myself a map and then continued down to the round-a-bout with a big statue thingymabob in the middle. What it was is anyone's guess. I stood looking at it for a short time and finally gave in and began walking again.

On my map I found one of the cities several freaky little mountains and decided to head towards that as it would take me towards the river.

When I reached it I decided it was a 'Failed Guilin Karst Peak' experiment.
It's known as Yongu Shan and what ever the building is at the bottom of it is also anyone's guess. All up combine the strange mountain and the strange building you have a one strange....um.....place, thing, area.....whatever!

I then zig zagged my way between Jiangbin Lu, Liming Donglu and Xueyuan Zhonglu. Here I found a heap of old streets and buildings but sadly every single area had already begun being demolished. I then slowly mapped my way to Renming Lu which meant I was pretty much in the middle of everything. I spent awhile walking around the 'shopping streets' and then headed to Zhongshan Gongyuan (Park).

There is always a Peoples Park near this area of every city.
If there is a Renming Lu you know there will be a patch of green somewhere near by.

The park itself was small and shady and I spent sometime beneath its leaves to cool down before moving on towards the Lucheng District where I found a heap of alleyways to walk around. Sadly ALL the old areas I came across on my days walk were all marked for demolition. Most had already been started and others were in the 'getting ready' process. How sad it is that this part of Wenzhou will soon have lost most of its history! At least most other cities (including Shaowu) have built around the old sections.

Usually in the centre of a city block can be found some old alleys and buildings.

Is the Wenzhou government embarrassed of its 'oldness'?
Does it believe if they leave it then people won't want to move here?
Maybe they think they can't have both old and new!
How strange and how sad!

After a bowl of noodles I made my way towards Ou Jiang (River) to find the ferry that would take me across to Jiangxin Dao (Heart of The River Island). The ferry ticket includes the entrance fee for the island along with the return journey. Not bad for only 20 Yuan. I spent the short ferry ride chatting to a lady who is a Chinese English Teacher in Wenzhou. She was proud of her city and its wealth and truly believed that ALL the old areas should be demolished to make way for all the wealthy new arrivals that move to Wenzhou each year.

Ok! I thought
We really aren't going to get along to well now are we!

When we reached the island I waved goodbye and began my little island adventure. The island has two beautiful pagodas that are located on each end. You can't climb them but from the mainland and the ferry they are extremely beautiful. The islands walking tracks take you past beautiful lawns where you can squabble with the 'not so friendly' geese.

There is a large theme park at the pack of the island but I chose to stay away from the Chinese 'nuts and bolts' of it all.

Thunder and lightening had been dancing around above for about an hour before I decided it was time to head back across to the mainland. My next aim was to find one of the Churches down Xinhe Jie. On the way I dropped into a busy little market place for a look. I soon found Songtsi Shan upon which sat a beautiful pagoda. By now the sun had almost left my world and night had surrounded me.

Photos were pretty much out of the question which was a pity as I found one of the little Churches beside the mountain.

Across the road was an awesome looking building that was built in the shape of a huge archway. Very impressive! I could hear some music coming from beneath the huge Archway Building thing so I decided to head across to see what was happening. Cool a fashion parade was happening. The girls were stunning but looked about as happy to be there as I would have been working back in an office! ARGH!

I then aimlessly walked around the city for a few hours and found a KFC for an ElcheapO coffee, to rest and to sit and write these words. So I now sit somewhere between Renming Lu and the road just over there on my map. Yes, that one with all the Chinese characters on it. Let's just call it Noodle Road. As if hasn't been change to Pin Yin it means I haven't walked it just yet. So now I will do my best to make my way home. Probably not the best idea at night but hey, I have a few hours to kill and I believe judging by the map that it will take around two to two and a half hours.

Remember, you can't get lost if you have a map or a taxi!
Beers N Noodles toya....shane
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The soundtrack to this entry was MC5
The album was 'Looking At You'
Awesome band and awesome album!