The coach ride from Lakeside Ancient Village to the above tourist centre was so short; we could have just endured the drizzle and walk there ourselves without the need to keep our brollies!
Okay, I need to eat my words as I just checked the map, and realized it was more than a kilometer away; a distance my elderly tour mates are not likely to cover without any complaint.
Whatever the case, we shall be taking a cruise along Xin'An River; a vital waterway in the past, we shall be boarding the traditional-looking Chinese boat and covering just a short section of the 365-kilometer long river.
Unlike most boats, this was like a huge living room, making it easy for me to take a group photograph! With large window panes, it's also easier to take in the sights although the lack of windows meant it can get quite stuffy.
There's also a second level for better ventilation and relaxing in the river breeze! Problem was, the drizzle was relentless and getting wet would have been so uncomfortable! Down to the first level.
Dad with the China flag.
Start of our cruise. Given how important this river was in ancient times, connecting the region to the Qiantang River in the northeast, I expected a lot of movements but river traffic was literally non-existent. Maybe easier and cheaper to take the roads.
So, my eyes were drawn to the activities along the riverbanks. Like the pumping of river water, and the line of anglers waiting for their catch in the rain.
Going to the front of the vessel, where the colors of the photographs turned out to be more vibrant. Nowadays, I don't bring along my bulky DSLR, and photographs taking using mobile phones can be quite hard to amend, I feel.
Cruising past the Lakeside Ancient Village we visited less than an hour ago and passing by the 111-meter long Huizhou Cultural Wall. It actually looked impressive from the above angle, although the buildings behind kind of spoilt it. Oh well, the juxtapositioning of both modern and historical.
Going underneath the Pedestrian Guanguang Suo Bridge (人行观光索桥); honestly, this was one of the worst name ever since it just meant pedestrian scenic bridge, which could be given to any of the millions of bridges in China.
It was spring but temperature remained pretty low.
And someone was swimming in the river! Respect max.
I thought we were continuing down the river, maybe to Tunxi Old Street but no, the boat made a u-turn. Distance it covered was maybe only about three kilometers!
Well, the whole lot of us weren't complaining since it was pretty boring in the boat, and with the rain making it impossible to go up to the second deck; most of our tour mates appeared bored, with a few of them taking a snooze.
You can roughly imagine with the above video.
Bypassing the Lakeside Ancient Village again.
Aside from the Lakeside Ancient Village and the Huizhou Cultural Wall, another highlight along the river would be the King Sun's Pavilion (孙王阁) on the right, on top of a hill. The history of the pavilion goes back to the Ming Dynasty but the original structure was destroyed in 1958, and this 18-meter replacement was completed in 2012. Sadly, no opportunity to climb up.
Message with a very communist propaganda vibe but it actually meant "the world's beauty, and the beauty is Huangshan", playing homage to the province's most famous attraction.
Chinese inscription on the cliffside; translating as the great scenery of Xin An! Well, I found it quite puzzling as you don't really need to have words to describe the scenery when you are there to experience it for real.
And we were still continuing our way!
So, maybe a longer distance covered, I presume?
Remember my earlier sentence when I mentioned that boat traffic on the river was like non-existence for a historically vital waterway. Turned out a dam was built along the Xin'An river and that actually removed the practicality of having boats around to transport goods!
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