naturally, my first instinct when i see a nice path, or a place with mesmerizing scenery is - i'd love to run that. i try to get up before everyone else is awake, so my running doesn't affect everyone else's holiday schedule, and complete my run before everyone gets up. and so, that's the story of my trip to china.
when in hangzhou, run westlake. the circumference of the lake is 15km, yes i did my research. i was also told by our tourguide that it's safe to run westlake, because of course i didn't wannt get robbed whilst running. so off i went to do a loop around westlake. the sun rose early as it was summer in the zhejiang region of china. and throughout the entire run, there was people around.
ask why it's nice to run westlake?
1. it's nice because at the crack of dawn, there really isn't much tourists around. go a little later and every shot and every frame your camera captures will be filled with people, lots of people. you see westlake in a more relaxing manner.
2. you get to see the entire westlake. the scenery is different at different points of westlake. the first photo looked like hyde park in london to me. but in the second picture, it looks so different, as though a completely utterly different place from the first.
3. and my favourite - is watching the locals do their thing - their morning routine. you see some people cycling, some tap dancing, some doing taichi, some brisk walking, some walking their dogs, i like watching them do these little things. i feel like that's the best way to see, explore and experience a city.
when in wuzhen, seriously you can run non stop in the town. one loop around the small wuzhen town is about 2.3km ish. i did about 4 loops and i was not bored at all. wuzhen is really the eastern venice - too pretty. running along the alleyways, was an unforgettable experience.
1. like i said, i like seeing how the locals do their thing. on my first loop, i saw them opening their shops. on my second loop. i saw some starting the fire using charcoal, some cleaning the tables, all doing their thing. on the third loop, i saw more workers walking to work and all.
2. the scenery is absolutely breathtaking. i felt like i was in a different world - okay maybe i was. but i really felt like i could do 20 loops and still be amazed by the place.
when in shanghai, shanghai didn't manage to show me what it had to offer. for one, the park near where i stayed which was the french village was somewhat small. i could walk it in 30 seconds, so running it would not have been an option. i wanted to run the streets but shanghai is a real busy city and the driving direction is opposite so i didn't want to risk my life. plus i had a flight to catch so unfortunately i could not run shanghai. it's okay, shanghai, i'll be be back to run you.
and of course, why the best way to see a city is to run it. because - you can eat more. you can eat more of the local food there =p
thank you china. i'll be back to run you. some day.
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