This is the second page of an on-going post describing what Chinese parks are like. If you would like to start at the beginning, please go HERE. Otherwise enjoy…
Please kindly note that this post has multiple embedded videos. It is important to view them. If they fail to load, all you need to do is to reload your browser.
The Views are Beautiful
There is no question that the views are glorious. For beautiful is a word that just doesn’t cut it. I love the fresh air, the scent of the trees, and the cool breezes that caress my face. There is a certain romance with the way the forests are and the rocks and stone. I find it enthralling.
You might wonder why the stones have these traditional Chinese characters on them. Well, I have.
Well, it turns out that this is what the Chinese like to do. You know, like how Americans like to put a plastic pink flamingo (or an entire flock of them) in their front yard, or those plywood cutout of bent-over granny’s, or flying duck whimsy’s in their yards. Or those gnomes… Or those buried bathtubs with a statue of the Virgin Mary inside…
Or putting folding chairs in the parking spots on the streets of Pittsburgh…
Kitsch, also called cheesiness or tackiness, is art or other objects that, generally speaking, appeal to popular rather than "high art" tastes. Such objects are sometimes appreciated in a knowingly ironic or humorous way. The word was first applied to artwork that was a response to certain divisions of 19th-century art with aesthetics that favored what later art critics would consider to be exaggerated sentimentality and melodrama. Hence, 'kitsch art' is closely associated with 'sentimental art' .
-Wikipedia
Travel within the Park
Often you might need or opt to take a tram or light-rail train to some of the more remote areas in the parks. This can be an amazing experience.
Often you will ride in and out of the clouds. You will pass under and through trees and vine tangled gorges. You will watch light glimmer off of shattered stone surfaces, and witness rainbows form over enormous cascading waterfalls.
Wildlife
Being China, you will see all kinds of native flora and fauna that is unavailable in the rest of the world. Bird watchers end up experiencing some special treats.
The birds not only look different, but they make different sounds as well. Instead of hearing “cup of tea” from a grackle, you might hear some kind of prehistoric screech that seems like it belongs in a grade B horror flick.
Entertainments
Being a mountainous nation, the Chinese love to take advantage of the natural beauty and scenery. As such, they enjoy building recreational themed structures and venues on the tops of mountains and the sides of cliff faces.
It is pretty common to have these enormous swings that you can ride from one mountain top to the other, or glass floored bridges that you can walk in the clouds by…
There are often all kinds of fun things to do. There are many, many kinds of amusements. I personally like the hour-long water slides that go down the mountain. Awesome! It’s like you are riding some of those logs in the hills of Sacramento (Auburn), California back in the gold-rush days.
Remember them?
It’s sort of like this. And yes, you can experience this kind of ride all over China. It’s as common as bumper stickers on cars. It’s as common as having packages stolen off your porch once Amazon.com delivers them (or the UPS does). It’s as common as shoelaces on shoes.
It is sort of like this…
Riding down one of these things reminds me of a scene from the old television show Here Come the Brides.
There was a scene, in a long ago, half-remembered scene, where they rode down the sluice to get away (?) from some bad guys (?). All this kind of reminds me of that. I well remember wanting to ride one of those trees going down a sluice. Ah, it didn’t happen until over fifty years later. Eh?
There are all kinds of different versions of this. From little life-raft thingys to miniature go-carts, to mechanics roller beds . Here’s another version at a different park…
It kind of reminds me of sled-riding in the dead of Winter on snowy January nights in Western Pennsylvania. The logging roads in the woods would be blocked off from traffic, and the snow would be packed down by snowmobile. Then the cub-scouts would organize a “wiener roast” or “hot dog” party at the base (or often) at the summit of the hill.
Well, that’s enough micro-videos for this section. Let’s go to the next page of this post to see what other surprises that await us in the parks of China.
Now, let’s go to the next part of this post. (If I throw in too many micro-videos nothing appears and the post takes forever to load.) So to continue, please go follow this arrow…
If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.
Links about China
China and America Comparisons
The Chinese Business KTV Experience
This is the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal press. This is the reality. Read or not.
Learning About China
Contemporaneous Chinese Music
This is a series of posts that discuss contemporaneous popular music in China. It is a wide ranging and broad spectrum of travel, and at that, all that I am able to provide is the flimsiest of overviews. However, this series of posts should serve as a great starting place for investigation and enjoyment.
Articles & Links
- You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
- You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
- You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
- You can find out more about the author HERE.
- If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
- If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.