Saturday afternoon in Ningbo, China

[slimboyfat]

Apologies. I posted this on another forum too but they just don't have enough members.

Anyway..........

I left a ship what I had been doing a safety audit on Saturday morning and had the afternoon and night to myself at the Howard Johnson hotel in Ningbo, China.

On the ship I spent a couple of nights in a cabin that looked like this



With a view that looked like this



So moving to the hotel for the afternoon and night before flying home was quite welcome. The room was rather nice and quite a bargain at around S$150 a night, especially as it wasn't my money.




And the view of Ningbo from the 15th storey looked something like this

[slimboyfat]

So although there was free flow of beer at the club lounge on the 19th floor, that was no good to me as in these 'alone at the hotel situations' I like to get slowly pissed whilst surfing internet forums in the comfort of my own room, dressed only in my pants.

So that meant a beer run was in order. As there seemed to be a park nearby called Moon Lake or something I reckoned I should get some shots first to post on TD or Subzerosiam, whichever was the more needy.

However, onwards and upwards as they say.

It was a lovely day, the temperature being around 26 degrees C and not as humid as what I am experiencing now in Singapore.
This was my first view of Moon Lake as I approached the park.



And I walked along here to find the entrance to the park, running the gauntlet with all the motorbikes and cycles as I believe that was what this lane was supposed to be for.



Apparently the lake and this area of the city are very old and there were lots of temples and beggars around so I have to assume that this is the case.

[slimboyfat]

I found the entrance to the Moon Lake park and had a look around



Just after I took this picture, the Chinese version of Rab C Nesbitt appeared from behind one of the bushes on the right, pulling up his trousers, and was immediately evicted by the parkie seen in this pic





Ofcourse I was the only foreigner in the place and got a few stares, smiles, hello's and nee hows from the folks enjoying the park.



My hotel from the other side of the lake







Wish I had had my kids along so I would have had an excuse to go out on a pedal boat





There even was a tourist information office which I didnt use

[slimboyfat]

Further exploring the park





Not entirely sure what this place was



Inside looks like a temple of sorts but there was no one there so just aimed my camera inside and beat a hasty retreat

[slimboyfat]

So I walked away from the templey place, got shown a man's stump (of his arm - he was begging) and made my way out of the park in search of a supermarket or similar to buy some beers.





Just outside the park I found a small shop selling drinks and cigarettes. They had beer but it was some Chinese brand but at about 50 cents a can I wasn't complaining - yet. That came later when I got back to the hotel and noticed that the floor in the lift was wet, my leg and back were wet and everything smelt of beer. Yes one of the cans had leaked in my bag. Then to make matters worse the beer was less than 2% alcohol and tasted like Chinaman's piss. So I went out to buy some more and managed to get some strong stuff (3.6% alcohol) which was drinkable after I had a couple of Heinekens first at the hotel lounge.

I just took a couple of shots around the city because it looked like most of the other Chinese cities I have visited.






As usual in China its a bit of a free for all at road junctions.



Fin

[sabang]

^^ I'd say thats a Chinese tea house.

Actually, for a Chinese city, Ningbo looks OK. Nice one.

[Cujo]

Great, some nice pics there, my brother lives in Ningbo you should've dropped over to his for a beer. Mind you looks like you had a nice day for the park.
Usually if you find one of those little stores and sit out with a beer, sooner rather than later you'll have some female company.

[phuketbound]

Cool pix, slimboy. As I said on the other forum, Ningbo looks like a decent place to live, or visit.

[Fabian]

Great thread.

[a. boozer]

Some great pictures.

[kingwilly]

So although there was free flow of beer at the club lounge on the 19th floor, that was no good to me as in these 'alone at the hotel situations' I like to get slowly pissed whilst surfing internet forums in the comfort of my own room, dressed only in my pants.

silly man, just get pissed fast, then go down to the internet.

best wear more than your shorts but.

Just outside the park I found a small shop selling drinks and cigarettes. They had beer but it was some Chinese brand but at about 50 cents a can I wasn't complaining - yet. That came later when I got back to the hotel and noticed that the floor in the lift was wet, my leg and back were wet and everything smelt of beer. Yes one of the cans had leaked in my bag. Then to make matters worse the beer was less than 2% alcohol and tasted like Chinaman's piss.

som nam nah!

[blackgang]

Thanks Slimboy, you did good as usual,, did get a couple of shots of some fair looking chink ass.

[sunsetter]

^ yeah but blink and youdve missed it

nice pics slimboy, where next?

[kingwilly]

did get a couple of shots of some fair looking chink ass.

^ yeah but blink and youdve missed it

eh?

where?

[sunsetter]

have a good scan through, shame about the brolly aswell, they looked half decent too

[chassamui]

Excellent work SBF. I especially enjoyed the view from your cabin.