Spring Field Trip - Gao Chun Scenic Area and Strawberry Picking

This past Friday (April 4) our school had its spring field trip.  We found out about the trip Tuesday and then Friday morning we were getting on the buses headed off to places unknown, with the promise that we would be going strawberry picking. 
We rode for about 1.5 hours and came to this Old Street that had a bunch of vendors on it.  We were told we only had 40 minutes to see the sights before we got on the bus and headed to our next stop. 

Younga and Dan preparing to jump.

Dan's new friends.

I'm not entirely sure of the purpose for the pepper.

Some of our students saying hello.

A well and a toilet in the same spot...raises some eyebrows.

Noel, Younga and Dan trying some of the goodies found at the vendors.

Sifting flour.

I've got a frying pan.

After we got back on the bus, we traveled for another hour and came to another spot.  This is where we found out later the teachers had had lunch - no one told us, but that's okay we did our own thing. 

Empty but pretty.

We rented a quad-cycle(?) otherwise known as a bicycle built for four.  This is Noel and Dan.

Me and Younga.

Some more of our students have difficulties with their quad-cycle.

Our Sr 3s brought their own propane stove and made kabobs and fried rice for lunch.  They shared with their hungry teachers.

And then we got back onto the buses and drove for 15 minutes to the strawberry fields.  There was a lady in a tiny truck leading the way for us but we kind of sat on her bumper the entire way so at sometimes I thought we were going to hit her.  We only had 40 minutes to pick strawberries. 

It was a fun day but by the time I got home I was tired and hungry despite all the strawberries I had tasted.  Younga and I got an early dinner together and then went our separate ways. 

HASH - Architecture Museum Nanjing March 16, 2014

Yesterday was the first spring time hash and it felt more like summer than spring.  We reached a temperature of around 24°C with the sun beating down on us. 
We met up in town at a bus stop and then rode the bus for 40 minutes to the outskirts of the city and then began our walk.  We didn't get back on the bus until almost 5pm (after getting on the bus at 12:40pm). 
The story of this park is that this rich man had so much money and was bored so he decided to buy a large patch of land on the outskirts of Nanjing and have 22 architects from around the world design and build different houses.  I'm not sure if there is an intention to resell these houses or rent them out once completed but for right now even the finished ones are standing empty (and some are already rusting in some places).

Here are the pics from the day.

Walking through a tree park...

That they are destructing. 

Heavy machinery right in the roadway. 

The Art Museum with the Architecture Park

Our first view of the park.

Hashers walking among the buildings.

The Chinese wouldn't let us use the standard chalk on the ground for directions so our Hares had to be creative and use clothes pegs to make the path.  It was very similar to an Easter Egg hunt.  

Creative method for telling us NOT to go this way. 

Beer Stop

No beer for Stephanie, just Iced Tea.

House with a strange pond on top of the house.  Not good for parties.

See on top of the building - look to the right you can see the ramp up.

On the roof there were also large holes looking down into the house - again not good for parties.

Bamboo house, with a ring of bamboo poles around the patio.

From the outside it kind of looks like a cage.

But the shadow effect from the bamboo is cool.

The Waterside Pavillion

Inside, more party area than living area - those benches are the only sleeping services in the entire building.

Circle at the end, only down-down for Stephanie was when everyone got in trouble for not actually finishing the trail (we stopped when we saw the buses.)