Zhongshan Park

Gary and I spent Monday, September 8 (the Mid-Autumn Festival Holiday) at Zhongshan Park. We took bus 31 to and from the park. The stop is right outside the front gates of the University. It cost us 1 yuan or $.16 each for each way, so we were able to get to and from the park for less than a dollar.

The park is named after the great man, Sun Yat-sen, the Father of Modern China. Zhongshan was his birth name. They have a statue in the park of him. It is really a well done monument.

This fountain is at the entrance to the park. It is children playing in the sand at the water' edge.

     

There is a small amusement park near the entrance. 

Coconut milk. All they do is cut around the coconut and put a hole in the top for the straw. Then they chill it. You get to sip coconut milk straight from the coconut.

 This little boy was flying so high, but his mom could not get him to smile. It seemed like he really liked it, but you could not tell by his face. We sat and watched and giggled for quite a while.

 There were many little lakes with lily pads and great, green foliage. It was quiet and peaceful, too. Some of the greenery had flowers. We could have spent all day there just looking at the beauty.

 The designs in the park were amazing. We saw it in many ways. This fence design is pretty cool. We found that the Chinese are very good at design.

This path is made of cut logs. Pretty sweet!They used different sizes to make sure they all fit. It was very cool to walk on. The path went on for quite a ways. It must have taken them a lot of time to do it. 

This walkway is made from cinder blocks. There is open space between each stone. From a far it looks like there is something between the stones, but no. 

This pathway was made from different polished stones. Very beautiful and colorful.

Another path of giant boulders smoothed so you can walk on them.

We took the tram, up and over the mountain to the other side. It was fun and peaceful. Gary had a ball saying hello to all those who passes us. Most said hi and then giggled. Some ignored us. They are not used to someone saying hi on the street or informally. I got a kick out of it. 

At the top of the mountain you got off one tram and went to another. This is what we found at the bottom of the tram on the other side; A German bunker. The Germans spent a lot of time in Qingdao. They took over Qingdao for some years. There are still remnants of this in the buildings, but also in the forests. You will find bunkers everywhere.

On the other side of the park, there is a Buddhist Monestary. We were able to go in and see the buildings and watch people pray and worship. It was very interesting. 

This was another German bunker at the top of the mountain.

We enjoyed going to the park. However, we only saw about a third of the park. There is a zoo and a botanical garden that we have not seen yet. We will be going back to the park many times. Even on the busy holiday, the park was not that crowded. We hope you have enjoyed this adventure with us. We will be posting more adventures as they come.