Looking for the mountains in Dongyang

 So, this morning looked like a nice time to see the mountains. We are just getting into the hot weather again so I need to be prepared for the skin to be roasted. Shelter from the sun is more welcome than shelter from the rain!

A pagoda and a chill out  area

    We noticed that this pagoda kind of appeared from nowhere. It was pretty nice as one could walk up to the top and see out to the whole of Dongyang.

                                              

                                             These places are a Godsend when the heat arrives

Where is the entrance?

nearly there

There is some view from the top of one of these buildings. You are able to see the reservoir as well as the new high speed railway tracks and the new apartment blocks.

   

The reservoir looking out to Dongyang (东阳) itself

Looks a bit like 4 swimming pools put together

 (or maybe fish farms)

One can see the stumps of the railways.

Just getting ready for the new stage of the high speed railway line

View from the top of the tower

Safety first!

Water , water everywhere

I need a boat

..... and a new pair of feet to combat the stairs

I was able to get an on the ground view of the railway line as I cycled down the road. I also observed a few farms and quite a few people working in the fields. Nice.

Give it 2 years and it should be done.

Getting rid of the rubbish while working can be a tricky thing

A Massey Ferguson?

I wonder what that hut is used for?

I was going to wash my feet here but thought better of it and aimed for a mountain spring.

This is more like it.

Going into Dongyang for a cycle and some food

 I have been to Dongyang quite a few times now. It is nice to go there and aim to get to one of the malls where they sell the good stuff (a.ka.: Dairy Queen ice cream) I have heard of the traditional 童子蛋 [It is a tradition in this town for the local schools here to collect boys urine and soak eggs into the urine. Apparently , it gives the consumer superpowers.] 

This is myself try the supernatural egg.

As you can see, it gave me the power to grow my hair backwards.

Anyway, this eggcelent eggperience happened a couple of weeks ago. I decided to go to Dongyang itself and see if I could fins any more life affirming occurrences.

I did have one almost life changing occurrence while going through a tunnel but luckily the truck noticed a small shiny light on my bicycle. Otherwise  I could have resembled a fairly flat piece of toast.

I decided I needed to pray to one of the Gods.

Feeling content to have a chair away from the sun.

As is the case in a lot of place surrounding Yiwu, there seems to be quite a few statues / bells / pagodas.

So, it is always nice to spend a few hours perusing the area,

I wish that pagoda was open. It might 

save me from the tomato metamorphosis.

Gratuitous roof shot from a slug's perspective

Hit bell with stick......check

This photo does not do the buddha statue any justice

It is always nice to grab a bite to eat at certain periods during the day. We decided to head to a local restaurant where one gets to choose different bowls. This encourages communal eating.

I guess egg and tomato goes together in every country.

After this we accidentally passed through a graveyard while cycling to a water reservoir. As it is 清明节 , there were quite a few people taking care of the graves.

Many people tend to be buried in the mountains around these parts.

Although, the graveyard looks different to the ones at home, one can still sense

a peaceful atmosphere here.

               It was time to head home but not before seeing a gated community.....well, a raised gated community.

                                      

Houses seemed to be built 20 feet above ground.

One can see the foundations. Interesting....

The 清明节 tomb sweeping festival ..... a schools perspective

           So 清明节  has just been celebrated here. On the day leading up to the tomb sweeping day, people tend to observe a day where one eats cold food. At the school , the students celebrated this day 寒食节 by playing 3 traditional games before eating some cold snacks. I had never really heard of the 'rooster fighting' game or the 'arrow into an urn' game before (The tug o' war was familiar enough.)  Some of the students wore traditional Hanfu. I have not seen much of this in the east of the country. It seems to be a lot more common down Sichuan way.

Games first , food later

Heavy food , though

Good on a cold winter's day.

Traditional Hanfu clothes.

The 3 traditional games

A bit like darts with a pot instead of a dartboard

A different way of fighting.

Only the strongest (or the kids that grab the rope first) survive.

嵩溪 - The other side of Yiwu (Songxi)