Tags
beijing, Beijing Blues Lavender Manor, Bullet train, Chaoyang District, Lavender Gardens, Liaoning Province, prc, Shenyang
When is lavender not lavender!!!
Before heading to China last month I read about places around Beijing that had the top lavender gardens. I love brightly coloured fields so took down the details of the one I thought was the best (Beijing Blues Lavender Manor) and arranged a driver to take us there a couple of days after arriving. It took us over an hour from our Airbnb and it really was out the back of no-where; a downtrodden old street with huge construction over the road and on each side of the entry gates.
This is what the gardens looked like on the internet …be assured they looked absolutely nothing like this.We hesitated as we arrived at the front gate because we were greeted by these two ‘people’…mmm not a great start.But because we had driven so far we decided to pay our 20 RMB ($4 AUD) each to go inside as I really wanted to see the beautiful lavender fields. We started walking around the paths and the first tree we see is one with fake orange leaves and cheap umbrellas around the trunk. Second bad sign.And then we were welcomed by some unusual little rope people along the pathway but no lavender yet…Then…in the distance we see a small field of purple but it was not lavender; they were some sort of weed and as we walked alongside we saw a chair in the middle of the field – guess this is in case you get tired and need a rest? But the ‘lavender’ had grown over so we decided not to stop!!As can be seen, this small field looks absolutely nothing like the internet photos but to add to our amusement there were a few other ‘interesting’ garden ornaments.
A lovely swing with artificial flowers…An old stone carriage that was impossible to enter…An interesting structure which I said looked like an outdoor toilet complete with more artificial flowers but no toilet!And I have no idea why rope Sponge Bob Square Pants was there but he was as were some unusual signs.No more ‘lavender’ but a farewell from some more rope people. We haven’t laughed so much and spoke of this experience during the next four weeks travelling around China! Our next stop was Liaoning Province over north/east China and we caught the fabulous bullet train from Beijing but it was Golden Week (national holidays) which meant all Chinese are on holidays. Most of them at the train station…What a great experience travelling in business class with huge chairs, complimentary snacks, water, Chinese tea and slippers…And travelling at speeds of over 300km/h checking out the cities and rapeseed fields along the way.
Emma Cownie said:
Oh dear! Very funny. Well, it was lavender in colour, I suppose. Loved the fairy-tale coach and random sponge bob square pants!
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CrazyChineseFamily said:
Oh no, what a huge difference! That is something I am anyways used to from China as the pictures are either so heavily edited or even from another place entirely.
I would really love to take a bullet train in China, but somehow we never get around for that
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Little Miss Traveller said:
Oh dear what a let down for you with the fake lavender fields Sue, but the bullet train journey must have been marvellous. I would love to experience that one day as well!
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Sophie said:
What a strange experience ! Next time you want to see lavender fields, please come to France, prefereably in mid-July! The pictures you showed from the internet were from Provence in the South of France. The Chinese kindly left the French flag on one of the pictures, but (poorly) tried to copy in China the fields from a UNESCO World Heritage site in France. Or maybe they can be given the benefit of the doubt and we could imagine that maybe all the nice lavender had already been harvested at the time of your visit? On the other hand, I liked your experience in the bullet train, I always read great reviews about it. It must be so nice to travel with great comfort in first class while the Golden Week’s travellers are piling up in the other wagons!
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Lignum Draco said:
At least you can laugh about “Lavender Gardens” now. One of those “minties moments”. LOL
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JohnRH said:
Ha ha! What a learning experience. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but who’s beholdin’ to that! The train ride looks great.
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joliesattic said:
My goodness! Was it not the season for them? I did the tulip gardens in Washington State and they were as promised but we arrived at their peak season.
I love lavender and Sophie says the picture is of France? How disappointing. I am so glad you had a wonderful sense of humor about it though. I hope it didn’t cost too much. hehe
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atkokosplace said:
Sponge Bob! Hahaha….Love it! 🙂
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Gaz said:
It’s good you have good humour about this Sue.
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Isabelle said:
I must admit that my heart started beating fast when I saw those two pictures of lavender fields on the top of the post. What fabulous scenes! And I couldn’t helping smiling (or laughing?) when I was brought into the real lavender field. A tourist trap obviously. I enjoyed this (hilarious) post very much Sue. Thanks for a good laugh 😄
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twobrownfeet said:
That’s so sad! The internet can be quite misleading. I’ve never heard about lavender fields in China. You should check out the lavender fields in Japan (Hokkaido). 🙂
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kasiawrites said:
That’s hilarious. Perhaps something got lost in translation? But at least you made the best of it. 🙂
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
He he. It was truly hilarious being there. Thanks Emma.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Yep difference alright!!!! We caught about six bullet trains in the last month. They really are fabulous and so efficient.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Marion it was a very funny day. So Chinese!! The train was amazing. We took about six during our trip. Much better than the delayed flights in China.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Provence is a place I would LOVE to visit. Good you recognised the fields. Not surprising the Chinese said those beautiful fields were located at outer Beijing because they are gorgeous. Have a lovely weekend Sophie.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
He he. Too right!!
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Yes thank goodness for the train John. But my friend and I have very (very) funny memories.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Ha ha. Yes I just read Sophie’s comment. Now I must travel to Provence. Now that would be fabulous. The tulips would have been stunning. I love tulips!! I think the main cost was the driver but we used him to take us back to the Forbidden City so it was not too expensive.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
It was hilarious!!!! Thank you.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Gaz it was one of the strangest places I have been to. Strange and hilarious!!
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you Isabelle. It was genuinely hilarious. I am told by another blogger Sophie those beautiful pictures are from Provence. Certainly not where I was!!!
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
I can only imagine they are gorgeous. Beautiful country.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
It really was hilarious. Thank you!!
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Little Miss Traveller said:
I’m so pleased you had such a good trip around China and you can laugh about the lavender fields now!
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joliesattic said:
Oh good. Oh, The Tulips are a must see. They have a tulip festival which we didn’t stay for since I had a flight to catch. We were there in late April, but I’m sure it changes depending upon the weather. They were quite lovely.
As for the lavender, yes, you will have to check it out… in the right place.
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CrazyChineseFamily said:
We had only in Japan a bullet train ride and it was so great and quick
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Marta said:
This reminded me of a time I went to visit a supplier in my previous job. The pics they had on their website showed a bright and clean factory with shiny floors. The reality… the “factory” was a shed in the middle of a dump and the “toilet” was the chickens’ enclosure. Hey, at least it’s a fun story to tell! xD
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Ha ha. That’s worse than my experience!!!
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Amy said:
So disappointing… The business class of the train looks very nice. 🙂
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Edward Tan said:
The business class seat of the high rail train looks great, have you tried the standard class?
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
It definitely was Amy
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Hi Edward. Yes I did once from Beijing to Pingyao (or station close by). Actually I think I travelled second class; the class in the middle. It was fine for two or so hours I thought.
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sidran said:
Good to see you swinging post the lavender fiasco. The train ride looks very tempting.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
It was great Sidran. Had to move on past that dreadful Lavender place. Ha ha.
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homebutaway said:
This lavender garden is just a 15 min bike ride from where i live.. haven’t been there in a few years..
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vinneve said:
You’ve been busy with your blog which is good and yes I need to catch up soon! I been very lazy these past months but will do write again as I have so many travel backlogs I need to get out of my mind and need to write haha!
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Honestly don’t bother. Ha ha.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Please do I love your posts
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