Saturday (Shixiang and Xilai)

I woke up at 9 a.m., took a taxi to the bus station, and then left for Meishan at 10 a.m. I arrived a little after 11 a.m. and Wang Jian picked me up. The two of us took a pedicab to Mabel's parents' apartment. When Mabel, her friend and her son arrived, we all ate lunch.

Pedicab ride





After lunch, Mabel, Wang Jian, Mabel's friend, her son and I went to see Meishan from a higher angle.

View of Meishan


Mabel, Mabel's friend, her son and myself




The building

From the tour of Meishan, Wang Jian, Mabel and I left for Shixiang park (Stone Elephant Lake), which is famous for its beautiful tulips.

Shixiang


Eating a crab, shell and everything.

Eating a beetle, which was not tasty at all, just very crunchy.

Crabs

Beetles


The lake in the park had dried up due to the earthquake last year. Sadly, all the water somehow went somewhere else.








A game where you have to try to throw rings around the elephant's trunk.


The tulips


















There were people all over the place having their wedding pictures taken here.




In this video, there are at least six couples having their wedding pictures taken.




On our way to Xilai, an ancient town, Wang Jian stopped to buy some honey. The sellers asked us if we wanted to taste the honey, which we obviously did. The queen's honey tasted very odd and bitter, but the other regular honey was very good.


Xilai Ancient Town



Mabel trying on what she thought was a hat. In reality, it's a lid for baskets.

These are the actual hats











Trying to squeeze in the hole

This tree is supposed to represent man and wife joining in matrimony. Two seperate trees have grown to become one.


A well





We sat down at a little restaurant by the hat store and ate dinner. Wang Jian and Mabel ordered many cold dishes, such as spicy chicken, pigs blood, and tofu. We then also had some lettuce soup with noodles.

Little lotus flower candles floating down the river at night.

We saw some people exercising as we were getting ready to leave. Instead, Mabel and I decided to join, as is shown in the video.