A Stroll by Nan Hu

It was a Saturday. Siqi and I took a walk near where we live.

Looks pretty dense and urban, right?

Yes and no! Yuhang District is developing so fast it makes my head spin. And there were already a lot of these tall housing blocks in the town of Yuhang before the latest wave of tech company offices and transportation infrastructure got built. But Zhejiang Lab, where I work, was plonked down in the middle of a bunch of farms on the other side of Nan Hu (South Lake).

I commute from one side of the lake to the other five days a week. It takes about 20 minutes by car. Siqi drives me or I summon a car and driver using an app, which costs 15 to 25 rmb (3 to 5 Singapore dollars, 2 to 4 US dollars).

Now that they’ve opened up a bike and pedestrian path beside the lake on the east side, we can actually try to enjoy living near this lake. Eventually I think they’ll build a path that goes all the way around.

See below for 13 photos from the peaceful water’s edge.

South Lake, Yuhang District, Hangzhou, China

I think those are the only two people in my photos, but there were actually a lot of other people, all ages, walking or jogging or flying kites or whatever.
There’s a park at the northeast corner of the lake that’s a lot older than the new path. Siqi and I had been on the path before, but this is the first time we visited the park.
Here are the lake and the park as shown on the two signboards. One day it struck me that the lake looks like a ghost, and now I can’t unsee him.
It was a nice breezy day for kites.
Remember when I said someday the path will go all the way around the lake? Not today.
This is the little lake-within-a-lake in the park.
Hangzhou squirrels are smaller than Atlanta squirrels. And not as gray. (Still cute.)
I think this is my favorite!
Also not bad.
No leaves yet. But soon.
Honestly I don’t much care for bodies of water. But I love mountains.
And sunsets.
And clouds.
Time to go home! I wonder what we’ll see next time? 🙂