Drum and Bell Tower and skating on Houhai Lake

Trip Start Jul 20, 2004
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Trip End Jul 20, 2012


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Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Wintertime in BJ offers opportunities for ice skating/ice chairing and skiing. There are a couple of man-made ski resorts within 1 or 2 hours driving distance from BJ. We went to Houhai Lake for the skating and to Nanshan for the skiing. I enjoyed the skating tremendously especially since I have never skied downhill. We were a group of teachers and students paying RMB 150 for the whole day on the trails, including transportation. I quickly graduated from the teeny-weeny beginner trail to the intermediate.

What else happened? A noteworthy event was the "crossing the ditch" kayak adventure that took 2 Ozzies, James and Justin, from Australia to Tasmania crossing the Tasman Straits in a kayak. The pair, who left Oz on November 13, had intended to land in Auckland but had to change directions due to stormy weather. Their trek is believed to be the first successful crossing from Oz to NZ. They paid tribute to another Oz kayaker, Andrew McAuley,who vanished in February 2007 while trying to make a solo crossing of the Tasman.
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