Sorry, I couldn’t resist. China has made tremendous strides in cleaning up the English in public signs, but this one was just classic!
Thousand-Island Lake. Qiandao Hu is a man-made lake in a mountainous region of Zhejiang province about three hours from Hangzhou. The lake’s natural beauty provided a nice break from the urban, hectic life of Hangzhou. There are no cities or industries in the area, so the air was noticeably crisper and cleaner than Hangzhou. Indeed, the day was one of the few times that I’ve seen blue skies in China. The area’s mountains provide a stunning backdrop to the lake as well as providing the lake’s thousand islands (former hilltops in the flooded valley). Breathing in the fresh air and admiring the serene waters was truly a tranquil break from what’s often a hectic and stressful life in Hangzhou. As a much needed break after midterm exams, our school organized a trip to Qiandao Hu: Qiandao Hu is a beautiful and serene place within a short trip of several major cities, yet it was still apparently missing that certain something to really hook the Chinese tourist: themed islands! Yes, when at Qiandao Hu, one doesn’t relax on the lake shores or hike in the surrounding mountains, you hire a boat to take you to various islands where adventure awaits! Snake Island features, well, snakes. Lots of them (in pits, luckily, not just slithering around). And for gifts, take home a real life snake head in oil! And then there was Moon Island, with temples and pagodas honoring the island’s ‘ancient’ worship of the moon. Now this might seem more tasteful if it weren’t for two things: (1) the island’s supposed moon worship is anything but ancient when the island didn’t exist until 20 years ago and (2) the island’s pagoda is overshadowed by a carnival jumping machine and corresponding shrieks of glee. Seemingly no island escapes the kitsch. One particularly tall island provides a fantastic vista of the lake and surrounding mountains. Of course a particularly tall island offers not just an opportunity for good views but also…water slides! To be honest though, the slide WAS pretty fun. And yet…one can never leave well enough alone in China! When our guide first told us the name, I thought I’d misheard. Lock? Perhaps canal locks? No, it’s Lock Island as in padlocks, door locks, etc. The island is dominated by giant statues of padlocks, and for those interested, a museum on all-things lock-related. Were the developers perhaps hoping to corner the market for vacationing locksmiths? No, there’s some reason to this seeming madness: couples can buy tags engraved with their names, and they then lock them together with a padlock and throw away the key (I suppose littering rules are relaxed on this island). Kinda sweet, in a tacky sort of way. Notice the tasteful lock and key below. Perhaps strangest of all was Lock Island. a truly beautiful and potentially serene lake littered with tourist kitsch. I can’t fathom why the lake’s developers couldn’t leave well enough alone and allow Qiandao Hu just to be a scenic refuge from China’s bustling cities. But on one thing, I whole heartedly agree with Qiandao Hu’s developers: NO SPEELING! And that’s Qiandao Hu: Speeling is, of course, a danger to both the speeler, who might fall into the water while speeling, and the speelee, who has been distracted and seduced by the speeler and also risks falling into the lake in their speel-induced trance.
As can be seen from the sign above, speeling is the art of looking seductive on ship railings (this sign was just below my boat’s railing).Sorry, I couldn’t resist. China has made tremendous strides in cleaning up the English in public signs, but this one was just classic!
1 Comment
Carol
11/19/2011 01:43:17 am
hilarious!
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AuthorTwo free spirits who happen to be a lawyer (Brian), an educator (Melanie), and Americans find themselves in China in the twenty-first century. Archives
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