Field trip #2: Mang Shan National Park and apple-picking

It was hard to get up before 8am this morning after last night’s class party #2 which ended after midnight. Only 5 class members made it to dinner (Korean bbq) but 3 more people joined us later in the evening. We had planned on going bowling but there were no lanes available. So we went to karaoke again. This time, we stayed for 2 hours.

Anyway, back to yesterday’s field trip…about 70 people signed up (2 buses). First we stopped by the Tianchi (天池) Apple Orchard. We had 30 minutes to pick (or eat) as many apples as we could – up to 5kg. I picked enough to give one to each of my classmates and teachers with a few left for me. I ate one fresh off the tree – unbelievably crunchy and juicy…a hundred times tastier than apples bought from the supermarket!

After we each picked our share of apples, we headed off to the nearby national park.

We had about 2 hours to spend at the national park, but after checking out the big Buddha and statues of the 12 zodiac animals didn’t leave us much time to walk up to the tower at the top of the mountain. It was perfect weather for a bushwalk. Though the actual “bushwalk” was a little different to what I expected. The path through the bush was paved, with steps along the steeper sections. It’s no wonder they make people pay an entrance fee. It’s a pity that the washroom was in the shocking state it was in. Anyway, I think were about halfway up when we stopped to rest. But by then it was time to make our way back to the bus.

The third and final stop for the day was the reservoir just outside the national park entrance. There was not much to see, but the scenery was quite nice. The mega long flying fox looked exciting but there was not one customer the entire time we were there. I wonder if it’s still in operation…

There was a bit of a traffic jam so it took a bit longer to get back to uni but we arrived by late afternoon. For dinner, we (KT, AL & I) tried out a new eatery between Zijing dormitory buildings 18 & 19 – it had pretty classy interior and the food was quite tasty, though still much too oily. We actually had to pay for the hygienically packaged disposable chopsticks and hand towel. Perhaps we should bring our own next time…

>> More photos here