Today is the Mid Autumn Festival! It is a time of much rejoicing all over China. With the moon reaching its fullest size tonight, people return home to celebrate and spend time with their family and enjoy traditional foods--especially Moon Cake. This is one of the biggest festivals of the year, so most businesses will be closed tomorrow.
We woke up a bit late this morning, and while we planning out our day, we received a call from Mr. Jiang, the director of the Language Center. In honor of Mid Autumn Festival, he wanted to take us out for the afternoon, starting at 11:00 for lunch. The hospitality shown us by Mr. Jiang has really been quite unexpected- Mid Autumn Festival is traditionally a day to spend with family, and he chose to take the opportunity to invest in us. He and his son, Jerry (I think he's about 5 years old), and a friend, Mr. Guo, took us out to the Beefsteak Restaurant for lunch, then took us to Jiangxin Island for the afternoon.
Jiangxin island sits in the river separating the north edge of Wenzhou city from the south edge of Yongjia city. In the middle of the river is an medium sized island, on which sit two ancient towers--one a lighthouse--dating back to 860 and 960 A.D. The island also contains an amusement park with a roller coaster and a ferris wheel, but we focused instead on the old portion. I coudn't find wikipedia page about the island, but was able to locate a short write-up here.
The weather today was rainy- there's a typhoon heading slowly towards us, and it should hit Wenzhou sometime tonight or tomorrow morning. We're expecting heavy rains, maybe strong winds, but it shouldn't affect us too much. Jenny says we should be prepared for temporary power outages- probably the same sort of preparation we would have in Oklahoma during tornado season. We're not expecting to be a really big deal, but it would be good if everything went smoothly. Thanks!
Some pictures:
This is the view out the window of the Restaurant. It's on the second floor of a building situated near the Language Center, the center of Wenzhou, and the downtown shopping district. The black car is a Mazeratti (There really is a lot of money flowing around Wenzhou).
Jessica and Jerry at the restaurant:
Our group at Jiangxin Island. The man in the white shirt standing behind Jessica is Mr. Guo, who works with Mr. Jiang. He accompanied us for the afternoon. In the background is Wenzhou city:
The south-east coast of the Island. Mr. Jiang said that the entire east end of the island (verdant lawn and palm trees included) was artificially built up a few hundred years ago:
The Island is a bit unusual in that it has an interior lake with streams- this end of it, behind the photographer, is connected to the river via a sluice gate:
It's me!
Shannon and Me:
The East Tower. This is one of the oldest lighthouses in the world, and has been selected as significant enough to warrant preservation. It was built around 860 A.D.
The east end of the island contained a lot of colonial architecture. The walks, gardens, buildings, and lampposts looked like they could have come right out of the carribean.
This seems to be a popular flower in China. In addition to spotting it all over the east end of the island, it is prevalent between the divided highway on the road from Shanghai to Wenzhou.
It's a really good color for Shannon!
One of the walkways circling the island:
The was a bonsai garden in the middle of the island, but it was closed. This was taken through a side gate:
The west tower. This was built in 960 A.D.
Mr. Guo:
Jeremiah!
There were signs like this everywhere. Each one was different, but they all had a bit of humor. I'm not sure, but I suspect they are intentionally humorous.
Jessica, Mr. Jiang, and Mr. Guo at a well:
A loghthouse in the channel between Jiangxin Island and Wenzhou:
Tomorrow will probably a very quiet day, with most businesses closed, typhoon rains arriving, and not too much else.
- Jonathan
3 comments:
Awesome pictures!! I'm so excited that you have had a chance to explore a bit and settle in before beginning. And so grateful for the hospitality that you've been shown. thanks for the post!!
Shannon I love your outfit! You look beautiful!
Hey Jonathan!
I actually celebrated this holiday with my Uncle. He adopted a little girl from China and our family has enjoyed 'learning' her culture. There were probably two dozen people there and each couple had adopted from the same orphanage. Pretty awesome.
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