Wichmann Stories: Ningbo

We weren't sure what to expect from Ningbo so first thing in the morning we took our little map, and started to walk and see where we would end up. It didn't take long to notice that Ningbo, was a clean city. The sidewalks are wide and free from garbage, and the roads have designated bus and motor scooter lanes. The locals generally follow the traffic lights .The city is quite attractive with the all the bridges, canals, parks and waterways.

Ningbo

Mark and I enjoy strolling through the alleys and snapping photos of the local produce and people at the markets back in Xiamen. We figured, that should be a good first place to tour, after all every city in China has markets. Well, easier said than done. We walked, walked and walked. We finally came to a covered market that was quite large but not like the markets we were hoping to encounter while here in Ningbo. We tried to find some of the alleys, and though we caught glimpses of some of the older architecture and streets, it appears that Ningbo like many Chinese cities, is currently destroying the older buildings, making room for the new high rises. According to one person who has lived here for the past 5 years, Ningbo like Xiamen has completely changed.

We came across Tianyi Pavilion Library, China's oldest library. The library was built during the period from 1561 to 1566 and houses over 300,000 books. The library itself is quite large and houses old mahjong's sets, along with tablets of writings dating back to the various dynasties.

Tianyi Ge

mahjong set

We then headed toward Moon Lake which is approximately 97 hectares of parkland. By this time we were too tired and hot to walk through it, but here's a glimpse.

Afterwards, we continued walking and weaving our way through the various streets, when we came to an area called Lao Wai Tan. This is where you will find your local Laowai or foreigner in English. It's quite similar to the French Concession in Shanghai, where the streets are cobble stoned and the buildings though new, have the appearance that they are a throw back to days gone by. There are many restaurants offering you a wide variety of dishes. We decided to go for the Irish pub.

We walked back to our hotel, luckily it wasn't too far and took some more photo's. It was a long and hot day a mere 36C. We were both very glad to get back to the hotel and shower before heading out to dinner.