Along Past the Gas Station

Let’s get outside and have some exercise.  Yes.  Good idea.  I figured that this meant we’d all get in the car and drive somewhere.  It was too late to head to the hills, so what is closer by?  There is a wetlands park, I never noticed before approximately thirty minutes to the east beyond the airport.  I consider how it could be beautiful or ugly.  There’s another park that set along the riverside just below the city of Shunyi.  Both of these ideas were immediately shot down as I floated them aloft.  “I don’t want to drive anywhere”, said the Mrs. 

I’m especially deferential as it is “her” holiday season, after all.  She had an idea to go to a temple but I knew it was all too late in the day for that.  Let’s just stop at a park right up the road before heading to the place we planned on for dinner.

I looked and there appeared to be two parks just along past the gas station we usually use.  I copied the characters from one into the search engine and came to realize that the Mo Nei park was modelled after Monet’s garden at Giverny.  Well. The map had rendered it a square of green with a large dab of blue indicating a lake inside.  A bit further down appeared to be another public park.  On the way over I convinced everyone that we’d go have a quick look at this Monet Garden.  This sounded silly as I said it.  It was very unlikely to have much of anything to see at this time of year. We drove down the appropriate alleyway.  On the walls of the adjoining villa were signs for Monet Villas so we must have been in the right place.  At the end of the road we came to a dead end.  Dad was immediately set upon with abuse.  “Great garden.”  There was a small park but no way past a wall to where, I assumed the lake and gardens would be.  Peering over it was hard to see much of anything worth fighting for.

Leaving, I turned left instead of straight to the dinner place, at the first intersection we came to.  This was not well received.  "There are no parks down here!"  I had it in my mind that Google maps might have been right the second time.  We passed a walled off compound of park-ish land on the left, and then, finally, a proper park.  Turning at the light, we drove in and parked.  

The site itself, Dragon Century Cultural Plaza, has rows of deliberately planted trees that look especially young and bare in the winter.  In the center is a strange amphitheater that would be good for a band, if they played atop the structure or for a mass struggle session, where everyone needed to see the dunce cap bow and bow again.  This is the “Dragon Century” now, so none of that.  Struggle-sessions were all rather last-century.  My wife pointed out a wet market she goes often visits on the far side of the park. To the left was a tall building, which we surmised ought to be a government structure.  Hard to see who else would want to assert themselves this way, out here in the ex-burbs.  And the park had neo post-revolutionary lights, just like they have on Gong Ti Xi Lu near the Canadian Embassy.  We took it all in for a bit, walking around in the cold.

Later we parked at the mall.  We’d discussed hotpot, but found ourselves dining on all you can eat Shabu Shabu.  I ate too much. 

Saturday, 01/28/17