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Part of the experience of teaching in China is the the opportunity to explore aspects of life in China - and each month we do a visit to some place of interest. We had little notice about this trip to Shangyu, and didn't know what we were going to see. (We are seldom given much information about our proposed destination, and fear it will be mountain climbing or visiting another temple!)

This was a surprise in more ways than one. The weather has been pretty wet, and original plans were changed, so when we arrived in we were offered an opportunity to visit the shopping centre for an hour or so. As most of us are leaving China in the next couple of weeks and are already concerned for our excess luggage bill, it wasn't an exciting option, so we wandered a little way, before returning to the hotel where we were to lunch.

Shangyu has the title of Umbrella City as there are 1000 umbrella factories there. Fortunately none were on our agenda for a visit!

We had the most amazing of lunches - fantastic Chinese banquet - which never fails to impress!!!

Afterwards we climbed aboard the mini bus to go to a Yangmei farm. It was not far out of Shangyu, and really my first visit to a farm. We pass so many on our travels but this is the first visit. The little village was nestled at the base of some very picturesque hills, a someone from the village lead us along the pathways that the workers travel on their way to work. It was muddy and slippery from the rain, but we all managed the journey up the hill without any trouble.

We soon came across a whole family picking the fruit from the trees. From grandpa to the grandchildren. The yangmei is a delicious fruit, and we were able to pick directly from the trees and eat them. What a feast.

After spending some time looking around and trying to talk with the family, we departed but not before we had been given a huge basket of fruit each. One thing we have learned here is how generous the Chinese people are to us. Mostly they like having foreigners visit them, and they are generally very kind and thoughtful. You'll have to click here to find out more about our Yangmei and see more photos.

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