One of the few things I have done is got twice to a small mountain close to here. It is called Shimenshan, which means Stone Gate Mountain. The first time I went with Makenzi, Casey, and QinHong. The second time was with Jason, Matt, Mike, and some of the other Chinese English teachers.
When I went the first time, we stopped to get some strawberries before climbing. There were strawberry greenhouses where you can go pick your own (and eat as many as possible). We spent about an hour in the greenhouses, picking strawberries and eating a lot more. Well, at least I ate a lot more. After we were all full of strawberries, we took what we had picked and went to go pay. We each bought a kilogram of strawberries, which cost 15 yuan ($2.50).
When I went the first time, we stopped to get some strawberries before climbing. There were strawberry greenhouses where you can go pick your own (and eat as many as possible). We spent about an hour in the greenhouses, picking strawberries and eating a lot more. Well, at least I ate a lot more. After we were all full of strawberries, we took what we had picked and went to go pay. We each bought a kilogram of strawberries, which cost 15 yuan ($2.50).
The strawberry fields were about 10 minutes away from the base of the mountain, so we had to walk there and back. It was a nice walk and the weather was beautiful, so it was not too bad. Along the way, we saw two turkeys. I think they were the only turkeys in China. Casey and QinHong were so surprised since turkeys are not common here. Makenzi and I were just amused to see turkeys, since we had missed having turkey for Thanksgiving in November.
The summit from the base.
Gates at the base.
At one point, there was a temple where Casey and I lit incense. It was a small temple, but it was still very pretty inside. This is the outside of it.
After the temple, there were some statues, which were the twelve zodiacs. They were lined up in sequential order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig.
During the second trip, Jason and I went on a stone slide that was closed. Since we went in the middle of the week, there was no one besides our group, so we went around the gates. Jason went first and I followed. It was so much fun. It was difficult to get some speed initially, but afterwards, I actually went pretty fast. I used my feet along the sides of the slide to control my speed, especially around the corners. We then decided to go a second time, so we had to climb the stairs again. After the second time, my legs were really burning and we were holding up the rest of the group, so we did not get a chance to go for a third time.
The pagoda at the summit.
After resting and enjoying the view, we walked down the other side of the mountain. It took us about an hour to go up and about 45 minutes to come down.
The "begging baby wall" was a place on the mountain where couples could bring a rock that they had carried up the mountain to pray for a healthy child. There were stones of all sizes and some were pretty big.
Probably my favourite picture of both trips.
At the bottom the mountain, there were many beehives and there was a woman selling honey. The bees collected the pollen from the flowers on the mountain, so it is considered to a have a unique taste. Others bought some jars of honey and I tried some, but I could not tell much of a difference between it and other honeys.
After the second time, all of us teachers went to have lunch in Qufu. We were all very hungry, but we did not make much of a dent in the amount of food that the restaurant brought us. I was was not able to take a picture of all the food on the table, but there were so many that some dishes had to be stacked on others. If I had to guess, I would say that there were about 20 dishes. After eating as much as we could, we came back to campus. I do not know about the others, but I took a shower and had to take a nap. Although it was by no means a tall mountain (or rather a little hill), it was still tiring to climb up and down the stairs after taking the slide. But it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed all the company. The first time, it was only us girls (two Americans and two Chinese), so we had a lot of laughs. The second time with the other teachers was equally fun but in a different way. It felt a little more professional, where I could talk openly about things, but I also had to be more reserved in what I said to the other Chinese teachers. Regardless, it was a lot of fun and I would like to go again sometime.