Qingchuan Pavilion
With my bodyclock on New Zealand time, I woke at 0540, lazed around before having breakfast of muesli and coffee (from the machine in the lobby).
I arranged to meet KL & M at 0900 downstairs before going out to explore Wuhan. First up, we took a car to Qingchuan Pavilion. There we were waylaid by a vendor selling a thin bread baked in a tandoor. I just had to try some. I opted for the one filled with pork and pickled vegetables, and it was divine but in flavour and texture.
While the pavilion is historic, it was rebuilt in the 1980s according to historical photos. It is set beside the Yangtze and there were still remains of cherry blossoms left for us to enjoy.
Text continues after this gallery.
-
- Qingchuan Pavilion.
-
- Around Qingchuan Pavilion.
-
- Around Qingchuan Pavilion.
-
- Yangtze River from Qingchuan Pavilion.
-
- Cherry blossoms near Around Qingchuan Pavilion.
East Lake
From the pavilion, we took a car to East Lake where we hoped to get a serene walk along the waterfront of the lake.
Being a public holiday (Qingming), the traffic was crazy to the extent that we asked to be let out of the car before we got to the destination, making the last bit of our journey on foot instead.
The park area of the lake was chaotic too with many visitors wanting a slice of the outdoor in one of their few days off work. After a brief walk, we called it quits and took a metro to the area near the Yellow Crane Pagoda which we would visit tomorrow.
Text continues after this gallery.
-
- East Lake.
-
- Busy park area of East Lake on a public holiday.
Continuing our explorations
Coming out of the metro, we found a lunch place for a much needed feed. Once fed, we wandered towards Hubu Alley, a well-known food street. In the vicinity was the site of Fifth National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party and also the former residence of Mao Tse Tung. We paid a brief visit to both.
The delights we saw in Hubu Alley was wasted on us as we weren’t hungry after our big lunch. The effort though wasn’t wasted at all as it was a good scouting mission for tomorrow.
Text continues after this gallery.
-
- Yellow Crane Pagoda.
-
- Site of Fifth National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party
-
- Former residence of Mao Tse Tung
-
- Hubu Alley.
We returned to our side of the Yangtze and went to Uniqlo for a brief visit before returning to the hotel around 1800.
Despite not having seen that much altogether, it had been a long 9 hour day largely spent on our feet. I wound down and retired around 2130.
E & BW would be arriving later tonight and I was looking forward to seeing them again.