The other weekend Stu and I took a walk exploring the hills behind the school.  From the base of the hills there appeared to be some pretty cool looking old temples to explore at the top.

At the base of them there was actually a really well kept temple area, but since he had already explored that one the day earlier, and since it cost a whopping 20 RMB (okay only about $3, but you’d be surprised how cheap you get while staying here) – the equivalent of 3 meals – we opted instead to trek up the hills in search of something new.

The path up wasn’t too bad, the path we took brought us up an unpaved road in the middle of a bamboo forest.

It was gorgeous.  It was the first time I had really seen a bamboo forest. After monkeying around in the trees I understood why almost all of the structures we had seen so far were built using bamboo scaffolding.  It is super strong and grows quickly and densely (all those kung-fu movies where they are doing crazy acrobatics from one bamboo tree to the next seemed a little more plausible …).

Further along the path became steeper and was formed of carefully placed stone.  Everywhere I turned I saw and heard strange new insects, though thankfully I didn’t see any gigantic centipedes along the path.  Strange orange wasps, hundreds of dragonflies, and the most colorful varieties of butterflies I’ve never laid eyes on.

There we came across some cool carvings in the cliffside.  I recognized some of the characters, but a few of the carvings were done a style known as Seal Script (a popular style about 1800 years ago, though it had been used much earlier and much later just as another style, and is still seen today in the signature stamps used in art).

Continuing along the trek up we came across a small group of people building the very trail we were on.  We got a few strange looks, and I wasn’t bold enough to take pictures, but they seemed like a friendly lot.  They spoke a very different dialect, but we managed to figure out that if we continued up ahead we’d reach the temple.

Not nearly as large as the temple near the bottom of the hill, we finally reached an old temple that looked like it had received little attention over the years.

A lone man stood watch over the temple grounds, sweeping the steps and courtyard.  I wondered what this may have looked like in its glory.  It was still a pretty magical sight, and just outside the walls there were thousands of dragonflies.  In the distance we could see another temple, and along the way we could see the sprawl of many cities before us.

We arrived to see this one was gated off, looking more like a fancy new residence.  Gated off and out of reach.

We went down the hill a different route and appeared to be entering some sort of nature preserve.  We kept passing these signs, roughly translated to “protect the forest, prevent fire … everyone has green” … huh, I think I missed something there.

The only other thing that clued us in that this may be a tourist area was the relatively well kept path with steps and sometimes a hand rail.  What had started out as a scenic trail soon became rather crappy.  Literally.  Why on earth one needed to take a duke right in the middle of the steps is anyone’s guess, but I guess it is easier to squat with a nice solid footing.  At first I thought it might have been animal droppings, but the toilet paper thrown aside and cigarette butts quickly dispelled any question of its origins.

We exited from the less than picturesque path through a beautiful archway and found ourselves at a tea plantation.

An old mansion on the property.

Leaving the plantation, we walked through a cute little town filled with interesting houses and many canals characteristic of the area.

Some ducks hanging out on the dock.

There is plenty to explore in the area so it seems me and my fellow foreign teachers really lucked out.  On our way back home we came across a posh little golf range and spa.  It was tempting, but we were smelling a bit feral after our hike, so we caught a little taxi and made it back home.