Exploring Fuzhou

Boardwalk around the lake

In between tending to my cold, we have tried to get out and see a little bit of Fuzhou.  The other day, Dave, Louie and I spent the entire afternoon walking around the area.  Our hotel sits on this lovely lake that has a large park jutting out into it.  There is a "boardwalk" around part of it- which actually goes to the other end of the lake that has an amusement park there.  The large park is relatively new within the last 10 years and is beautifully done, creating lots of public space, green space and access to the water via small electric boats you can rent.  In the mornings, you can find people doing Tai Chi, dancing and evening singing as groups.  Inside the park are walkways and plaza's and gazebo's for gathering, and a playground for the little ones.

Sweet Panda! We got to get very close to them.

We walked to the farthest end of the park and into an adjacent area to visit Panda World!  When I heard there were Panda's here I insisted that we go - as I may not get a chance to see one in the states.  The facility has been there for quite some time, and they would like to move it to the outside of the city.  The current buildings are small enclosures for the Pandas and other animals, and they want to move it to a more fitting spot for Panda's.  The current location makes it very convenient for people to see the exhibits.  If it gets moved, it could literally be more than 1-2 hours away from the central city area.  A problem - but for someone who loves animals, it would be great if they had more room to roam!

The entrance area to the big park.

The streets of Fuzhou are very busy - well yeah, 2M people!  On the streets are people on bikes and motor-scooters, cars and buses- and then there are the pedestrians crossing those streets!  On the sidewalks are pedestrians, scooters and bikes!  What happens in the street is like a carefully choreographed dance between all the parties.  There is always honking going on, but not in a "get out of my way you jerk" kind of way.  More like, "I'm behind you and want you to know", "I'm going to turn and want you to know".  They come extremely close to one another, car to scooter, people to cars- there is no room for error.  Dave has been dying to try and drive here, thank goodness he doesn't have an international drivers license!  In all the driving we have done, we have not seen an accident.  Mike saw a small one the other day, where a bus and small car shared some paint!  He said both parties got out of their vehicles to inspect the damage, and then the woman started kicking the bus!  Sounds logical to me!

Some shops

Inside a calligraphy shop. This little girl and her father were so interested in us, and she tried speaking English with us.

There are a few malls in Fuzhou, and the one we visited the other day was super nice.  Tons of clothing stores with very trendy styles, and lots of restaurants.  In the city, the main streets are lined with shops, banks, etc. Most of the shops are very small, average of 200 to maybe 1,000 square feet.  As in many large cities, it seems like there are a million little markets and bakeries - but many people don't have cars, so everything needs to be nearby.  The shops on the back streets and alleys look quite different from the main street businesses, really small and often service businesses of some kind.  Dave and I found the tiniest hardware store ever, but it was busy and had every kind of hardware "department" you could imagine.

Deb

Outside a flower shop