Yunshuiyao

Temple

Dennis, Swee and Chen came to our accommodation for breakfast at 0700 and we set off at 0830 to the temple the pretty village near the entrance to the Nanjing Scenic Area.

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My tentative plan for the remainder of the day was to call into another tulou along the way home but as we’ve had such a great authentic experience yesterday, I expected that the ones by the main highway would be a disappointment.

Alice had recommended Yunshuiyao as it is set by a river.  Swee had been before and mentioned that there is a walk by the river between two spots.  Pictures we had seen in a book in the lobby looked very good as well.  So, Yunshuiyao it is.

Yunshuiyao

Leaving the Nanjing area around 0900, we got to Yunshuiyao around 1000 after dilly-dallying to buy the entrance tickets.

The more traditional and picturesque area of the village was on the other side of the river from where we had parked.  We crossed by walking on blocks that had been built into the river.

A old tower was under restoration and inaccessible but the lovely trees and a water wheel made up for it.

Guided by an online map, we followed the river in the direction that would take us to a tulou.  The red plump short bananas we bought along the way were awesome!

This tulou is often pictured with lotuses in the foreground but they were all dried at this time.

The tulou though was very worthwhile with a temple in its courtyard.  We were able to pay a small fee to access all floors for a good view of the magnificent building.

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Before midday, we settled into Dico’s for a crispy chicken burger.  It was excellent, unless our last meal there up on Huashan earlier this year.

Back to Teochew

We commenced our drive around 1220 and got back to the apartment in Teochew around 1445.  Because we got back about an hour than what I had planned, I had more than enough rest before preparing for my night flight to Kuwait.

Train to Guangzhou Airport

I ordered a car at 1815 and after being stucked in horrid rush hour traffic, go to Chaoshan station around 1925.  Typical China, the walk through the outdoor public area was lengthy just to get to the station entrance and security screening.

I only had 15 mins spare before boarding commenced for my 2004 train to Guangzhou East station.

The train was very hot and stuffy inside and despite being freshly showered, all my cleanliness for the long road ahead was undone very quickly.

The train arrived at 2214.  The internal walk to the metro was reasonably straight forward and I hopped on the first train heading towards the airport even though it didn’t have the airport as the final destination.

As it was late at night and the metro supposedly stopping at midnight, I thought that was the wise decision rather than waiting for a direct train to the airport.

The wait and transfer for a train that took me to the airport was pretty painless and I got there at 1115.  People were let into the terminal building batch-wise after being swabbed for explosives.

I stayed in a mezzanine floor where chargers were available with seating nearby until closer to check-in time for my 0440 flight.