Guizhou Province Day 1 – visiting Flower Stream Park and Confucius Temple
When we arrived in Guiying, the capital of Guizhou, my friend and I had been travelling for five days through two other provinces so we were feeling a little tired. We had arranged to meet another friend, Jo, at our hotel, as she was travelling from Beijing so we went straight out and firstly went to a local shop which Jo had already sourced, to buy a bottle of wine and then walked around trying to find a restaurant for dinner.
At the wine shop, the wine we liked was incredibly over priced (both the Aussie and New Zealand bottles) so we bought a bottle of Chinese white wine and had to ask the staff to open the bottle because it had a cork and we did not have a corkscrew. We paid for our opened wine, popped the cork back in and then found a nice little restaurant with no-body in it. I used my best Chinese language skills and ordered us some lovely dishes. And no surprises…the Chinese wine was disgusting!!
On our first day in Guiying we went to Flower Stream Park. The park covers an area of about 136 acres of which forty-nine are covered by water. Jo and I really love looking at shadows on the water (of trees/pavilions/buildings and anything really), so for the both of us walking around this park was a real treat.
I think it was also a treat for one young Chinese man and his dog who were relaxing at the waters edge, fishing.
The park was built in the Qing Dynasty and then rebuilt in the 1930’s. Then after the founding of The People’s Republic of China, it was equipped with tourist facilities and renamed Flower Stream Park, which means a park where flowers are in full bloom and streams flow – and that is exactly what we saw; beautiful blooms and lovely streams.
We hopped in a little car and travelled around the outskirts of the park; but decided to walk back to the exit along a lovely tree covered path next to the water.
We were fortunate enough to see fields of rapeseed flowers in bloom; because at that time of year the crop is usually harvested for canola oil and the fields are bare.
We then travelled to Anshun, by small bus, which is around 100 kilometres southwest of Guiyang and stopped at Confucius Temple before heading to our hotel.
It is a very pretty temple complex, and even more lovely because it is slightly dilapidated. There are beautiful trees and man made ponds within the complex and intricate Chinese stonework.
The complex rests upon a sloping field and the buildings appear to rise as you walk up the slope. We also had the opportunity to see young Chinese girls being taught to serve tea in one of the halls.
We didn’t stop very long as it was pretty cold and getting dark and it had started raining so after a good look around we hopped back into our bus and booked into our hotel for a nice relaxing evening.
Edward Tan said:
Are those peach blossoms tree as seen in your pictures?
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Little Miss Traveller said:
The blossom and the trees look so beautiful!
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Glenn Scribner said:
I love the vibrant colours of the trees. Looks like you visited at the right time of year.
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vinneve said:
I learned something new about where canola oil comes from 🙂 Thanks Sue! Liked your photos too, interesting tour.
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Bulldog Travels said:
Beautiful photos. Spring looks like it is springing. Love the photos of reflections.
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CrazyChineseFamily said:
Wonderful pictures! I never tried Chinese wine and I have th feeling it is a good thing…so far I prefer German Riesling the most as I am no big fan of the red wines.
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Sophie said:
Funny story around the wine (I didn’t even know China produced own wine…). This garden seemed to be so peaceful, that’s something I enjoy in mainland inner provinces, some touristy areas can be less crowded than in big coastal province’s cities, and you can really take the time to enjoy a relaxing atmosphere!
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carentaylor said:
Shame about the wine experience! The Confucius Temple looked like a lovely place to visit 🙂
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Rotwein Wanderer said:
What a lovely day you had! I reckon the flowers and streams soothed you.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Edward I think they are.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you so much.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you Glenn.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you as always Vinne. I learnt the same thing too.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you so very much. I loved the reflections too.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
I love German Riesling. Australia has some nice Rieslings too but I think Germany had excellent ones.
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JoHanna Massey said:
Oh this is such a lovely post. The reflective photos are my favorites…just stunning, and I enjoy so much visiting places I have not been through yours eyes. THank you so very much, and enjoy your weekend. ☀️
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Hi JoHanna. Thank you as always. You always write such lovely thoughtful comments. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
They certainly did – it really was a special day. Thank you.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Ha ha. No good about the wine but the food and other experiences made up for it. Thank you Caren.
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carentaylor said:
🙂
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sileas said:
I’m pretty amazed how much you’re on the move Sue! Every single place I’d love to see myself but for now I stick with your posts – they are so well described that it almost feels like being there 😉
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twobrownfeet said:
Truly beautiful photographs! Took me back to China and what we missed. Through your posts, I’ve realised there was so much to see. 🙂 Such a vast and diverse country.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you so very much Julia.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Yes they certainly do produce wine in China Sophie cloth red and white. I am told some of the red is pretty good. Nothing like lovely French wine and of course Aussie wine.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you so much for your very lovely compliment. It’s such a big country and so difficult to see everything.
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Amy said:
Guiyin is beautiful via your lens! I really enjoy the tour here. The Confucius Temple is well preserved, the architecture is remarkable. Great post, Sie! 🙂
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the dune mouse said:
oh my! So beautifully captured and so beautiful!
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you very much for taking the time to write such a lovely convent Amy.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you very much.
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agenda19892010 said:
🌟🌟🌟🌟
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Resin Kitchen (juliettejustine) said:
you also made some cool pictures
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Now it’s time to thank you very much.
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