Valley, Wetland and Lake

Teambuilding during week days would be a great idea for everyone in the company, especially 2 days teambuilding. Living in the city for some time, people would like to have a break to embrace the nature in the wild to breathe some fresh air. We discussed a lot about where to go beforehand, and eventually we decided to go to a valley in Zhejiang Province, together with a wetland in Hangzhou. The bullet train is always a pleasure to take, steady and speedy. I don't really remember how many times I have been to Hangzhou, and the moment we got off the train, I knew where to go, since it's just so familiar to me. The next couple of hours of shuttle was not that enjoyable, as the winding road was making me sleepy on the seat.

2 hours ride took us to a place called Shangougou (The Valley)
Quite countryside, reminding me of 20 years ago
Puppy lying on the floor chilling, quite peaceful

We were staying in a farmer's house with some old ladies from Shanghai staying there as well. To some extent, Shanghai is quite similar to Chengdu, where people like to relax in the mountainous areas in the farmers' houses in summers. I am not a big fan of this kind of lifestyle, because I don't like playing cards, nor Majiang. Maybe because we spent all the morning on the road, and we were just so hungry,  the food that day just blew us away. Mushrooms, local chicken soup and some wild vegetables...Awesome!

Bamboo Dragon spraying
Chilly water from the spring through my toes
Bamboo road, scary when walking alone there

The rain on the next day did not stop us from going to the wetland in Hangzhou, and I always believe the best scenes in Jiangzhe areas are in the rainy days. I was right, sitting on the boat, with the rain falling on the water and it was just nice. The boat owner said the wetland used to be the locals' home where his family farmed, and then the government bought their land to protect the area. He turned out to work here in the park, and he has several apartments in the city due to the land selling. He could have been sitting in front of his huge LCD, watching Hollywood movies at home with his grandson around nowadays, but he just likes sculling here. He said the wetland is his life.

Xixi National Wetland Park
Typical Jiangnan Boat
Another boat coming towards us
Wooden road in the reeds
A temple on the water, I smelt wine outside...:
Water Way

Because of the rain, and because shuttle was late, once again we were as hungry as we could possibly be. Emity is smart in choosing 'Grandma's House', where the food was impressive and great, but not pricy. For the first time, I had drunk shrimps jumping in my mouth. The rain did not stop until we started to walk on the bank of Xihu. It has been a long time since I walked along the lake with the rain.

The Lotus and the Pavilion
Foggy and chilly