Qiandaohu tourism
So often when I blog about places we've been as tourists, I do so partly to help other people who might want to go to the same places. Especially when we go to off-the-beaten-path types of places, I like that Google can help other travellers use our experiences. I use the blogs of others to guide me sometimes when we are planning a trip, so I hope I can be at least a little helpful to someone.
This time, though, I don't think nearly as many travellers to China will follow us to Qiandaohu as they would, say, the Great Wall. I cannot imagine too many time-limited visitors to China would want to go to Qiandaohu. For people that already live not terribly far from it, like in Hangzhou or Shanghai or Suzhou, it can be a nice getaway for a few days, especially if one can afford the big-name resorts. I wouldn't recommend to anyone to go out of their way to visit Qiandaohu. It was pleasant, but it wasn't a must-see type of place. Please note, though, that with future visits I may change my mind about that.
It was beautiful, with great weather. So it had that.
More after the jump
The afternoon after we arrived, one of Randy's Qiandaohu coworkers was tasked with taking us somewhere fun. We had already walked around our hotel that morning and pretty much exhausted all there was to do there.
We drove a ways from our hotel, and pulled up to what appeared to be a park. Following a paved path, we found ourselves at a rocky beach. At last the kids had what they had been craving, time to play in the water. There were signs prohibiting swimming, but nothing against playing on the small stretch of sandy beach. It was picturesque, complete with an unnecessary but decorative light house.
I had the feeling we weren't in a public park, really, when we noticed the beautiful furniture and the tent.
We saw a guy eating an ice cream cone, so the kids were hoping that we could get some, too. We followed the way from where he came and ended up at the swimming pools of the Intercontinental Resort! We had been on the grounds of the hotel all along.
There was an ice cream stand there poolside. Lapping our ice cream cones, the kids and I looked longingly at the immaculate and nearly empty pools (plural, more than one). The pools were gorgeous, overlooking the reservoir.
From there we could see a dock with some small motor boats. A larger ferry pulled away while we stood there, and from the sound of the loud music, we guessed it was a party boat. The hotel employee serving ice cream corrected our assumption; it was the employees' ferry taking the people whose shift just ended to the company's housing. Not a bad commute, I thought.
Continuing around the hotel, we found ourselves at yet another feature of the Intercontinental: the water craft rentals. There were hamster wheels, paddle boats, jet skis, kayaks, and water bikes, all available. Myles chose the wheel, and Brigid and I tooled around in a paddle boat.
We did not, however, attempt the Water Tricycle. Even with life jackets which we were required to wear even in the paddle boat.
The following morning, another one of Randy's coworkers accompanied us to one of the ferry terminals. There are boat tours of a select number of the 1,078 islands. The only island Myles and Brigid were really interested in seeing was 猴岛 Hóu dǎo (Monkey Island), so called because it is populated with Macaque Monkeys. It was only accessible by smaller tour boats, rather than the much larger ferries, so we booked our own private boat.
Our tour included several islands before Monkey Island. There was the Lock Island I mentioned yesterday.
There were bridges in between islands, like this one that we paid extra to cross, and then we could buy a photograph of ourselves crossing it.
There was an island with fortune tellers, and red ribbons we were to tie for luck.
We even passed islands which are privately owned, and people have vacation homes on them.
After so many islands, we finally reached Monkey island. Once we docked there I realized why they did not want the larger ferries to go there, and why the tickets were a little pricier. Monkey Island functions as a nature preserve, staffed by zoologists studying the macaque monkeys. They want to limit the number of people who come visit this place where the macaque roam free.
There was one baby monkey that we were permitted to hold. For a fee, of course. Brigid was terribly excited to cradle the little guy, named 乐乐 Lèlè (happy).
This was the only monkey we were allowed to touch. The island's rules prohibit petting any of the others, as well as squatting down near the monkeys, or carrying any food that might tempt the animals. There was a designated feeding area that, for a fee, we could give the animals their healthy snacks.
The monkeys were adorable, I must admit.
For Myles and Brigid, Monkey Island was definitely the highlight of the trip.
We were later taken to one more developed lake front, this one an actual public park. It was beautiful, but, again, not open to swimming. The water access was limited, but my kids were plenty happy with just rocks and water.
It was an amazing public space.
One of Randy's co-workers that brought us to this last spot explained that the water level of the reservoir varies so much through the year, that after a rainstorm half this park can be under water.
That certainly must be a challenge for they who want to develop the resorts. With unpredictable water levels, it must be nearly impossible to groom beach front. Add to that how quickly the water depth increases just a short distance from the shoreline, it doesn't seem like a good place to try to swim. Even fishing could be a challenge, as we saw this pier almost completely submerged.
I am glad we went. Beijing recently endured a hideous heat wave, with record high temperatures in the low 40s C one day. Going to Qiandaohu was a welcome change from the heat and smog. I still recommend it to those who are already living in China or plan to be in the country for a while, and are based out of the Zhejiang-Jiangsu region. If Randy didn't have to go there for work, we probably wouldn't go again. But we will return, and, again, I may change my mind on that subject.
This time, though, I don't think nearly as many travellers to China will follow us to Qiandaohu as they would, say, the Great Wall. I cannot imagine too many time-limited visitors to China would want to go to Qiandaohu. For people that already live not terribly far from it, like in Hangzhou or Shanghai or Suzhou, it can be a nice getaway for a few days, especially if one can afford the big-name resorts. I wouldn't recommend to anyone to go out of their way to visit Qiandaohu. It was pleasant, but it wasn't a must-see type of place. Please note, though, that with future visits I may change my mind about that.
It was beautiful, with great weather. So it had that.
More after the jump
The afternoon after we arrived, one of Randy's Qiandaohu coworkers was tasked with taking us somewhere fun. We had already walked around our hotel that morning and pretty much exhausted all there was to do there.
We drove a ways from our hotel, and pulled up to what appeared to be a park. Following a paved path, we found ourselves at a rocky beach. At last the kids had what they had been craving, time to play in the water. There were signs prohibiting swimming, but nothing against playing on the small stretch of sandy beach. It was picturesque, complete with an unnecessary but decorative light house.
I had the feeling we weren't in a public park, really, when we noticed the beautiful furniture and the tent.
We saw a guy eating an ice cream cone, so the kids were hoping that we could get some, too. We followed the way from where he came and ended up at the swimming pools of the Intercontinental Resort! We had been on the grounds of the hotel all along.
There was an ice cream stand there poolside. Lapping our ice cream cones, the kids and I looked longingly at the immaculate and nearly empty pools (plural, more than one). The pools were gorgeous, overlooking the reservoir.
From there we could see a dock with some small motor boats. A larger ferry pulled away while we stood there, and from the sound of the loud music, we guessed it was a party boat. The hotel employee serving ice cream corrected our assumption; it was the employees' ferry taking the people whose shift just ended to the company's housing. Not a bad commute, I thought.
Continuing around the hotel, we found ourselves at yet another feature of the Intercontinental: the water craft rentals. There were hamster wheels, paddle boats, jet skis, kayaks, and water bikes, all available. Myles chose the wheel, and Brigid and I tooled around in a paddle boat.
We did not, however, attempt the Water Tricycle. Even with life jackets which we were required to wear even in the paddle boat.
The following morning, another one of Randy's coworkers accompanied us to one of the ferry terminals. There are boat tours of a select number of the 1,078 islands. The only island Myles and Brigid were really interested in seeing was 猴岛 Hóu dǎo (Monkey Island), so called because it is populated with Macaque Monkeys. It was only accessible by smaller tour boats, rather than the much larger ferries, so we booked our own private boat.
Our tour included several islands before Monkey Island. There was the Lock Island I mentioned yesterday.
There were bridges in between islands, like this one that we paid extra to cross, and then we could buy a photograph of ourselves crossing it.
There was an island with fortune tellers, and red ribbons we were to tie for luck.
We even passed islands which are privately owned, and people have vacation homes on them.
After so many islands, we finally reached Monkey island. Once we docked there I realized why they did not want the larger ferries to go there, and why the tickets were a little pricier. Monkey Island functions as a nature preserve, staffed by zoologists studying the macaque monkeys. They want to limit the number of people who come visit this place where the macaque roam free.
There was one baby monkey that we were permitted to hold. For a fee, of course. Brigid was terribly excited to cradle the little guy, named 乐乐 Lèlè (happy).
This was the only monkey we were allowed to touch. The island's rules prohibit petting any of the others, as well as squatting down near the monkeys, or carrying any food that might tempt the animals. There was a designated feeding area that, for a fee, we could give the animals their healthy snacks.
The monkeys were adorable, I must admit.
For Myles and Brigid, Monkey Island was definitely the highlight of the trip.
We were later taken to one more developed lake front, this one an actual public park. It was beautiful, but, again, not open to swimming. The water access was limited, but my kids were plenty happy with just rocks and water.
It was an amazing public space.
One of Randy's co-workers that brought us to this last spot explained that the water level of the reservoir varies so much through the year, that after a rainstorm half this park can be under water.
That certainly must be a challenge for they who want to develop the resorts. With unpredictable water levels, it must be nearly impossible to groom beach front. Add to that how quickly the water depth increases just a short distance from the shoreline, it doesn't seem like a good place to try to swim. Even fishing could be a challenge, as we saw this pier almost completely submerged.
I am glad we went. Beijing recently endured a hideous heat wave, with record high temperatures in the low 40s C one day. Going to Qiandaohu was a welcome change from the heat and smog. I still recommend it to those who are already living in China or plan to be in the country for a while, and are based out of the Zhejiang-Jiangsu region. If Randy didn't have to go there for work, we probably wouldn't go again. But we will return, and, again, I may change my mind on that subject.
Comments