Over the Summer the heat and humidity in Ningbo gets ridiculous!
Brief days out keep people going even though it's so hot while out and about. On numerous days over the Summer, myself and friends decided to visit the huge lake here in Ningbo. As the Summer days are so hot, not many people are around these scenic areas.
We visited different parts of the Lake over the course of the Summer but here I’ll run through the main area and the longest day we spent there.
<--- Entrance to one of the Villages lining the lake.
We started by walking through an Old village area, this cost 20RMB (£2) to enter, the park area led out into the Village named in the monument. In this area, we found some interesting statues/artwork including the Zodiac animals in a grassed area. Another part of the park has the huge stone head you see below. There was a small inscription with this to explain who it represented. From this area of the lake it seemed much calmer, the lake had some people on boats but in general the area was quiet and still. Inside here you can rent and use the dragon boats (famously used for the Dragon Boat race in June).
After walking through this paid area, we came to a gate which was open and led to the monument. From here we took a left turn to walk through the villages. The villages are free to walk through and they offer an amazing insight into older Ningbo life, including the business side of life for quiet local areas. It was clear to see some impact of Covid-19 in this area.
After crossing a bridge which was experiencing some renovation, we could walk to a different Scenic area entrance. At first this posed an issue as a huge focus was put on our past whereabouts, common for Foreigners in China currently. Once cleared through the guards, we could buy a ticket for the larger Scenic spot, which is actually the more well known Scenic spot and extremely close to the Dongqianhu Bus station. This ticket cost 30RMB (£3) and gave full access to the area, including the temple.
One view of the lake
Once inside, the Scenic spot is large and generally empty, especially in the 40 degree heat! The lake itself is immense, it spreads for miles. Luckily this area is full of picnic spots and rocks to just sit and relax on. If you keep walking through you go over a bridge, which does have a tour coach going over regularly if you wished. Once over you will reach the White Statue. Here you can go inside the Temple, on this visit we didn’t, or you can walk further around the lake. Eventually we reached the red ribbon section where we wandered through and played with the camera for effects.
Xiaoputou Statue, opposite the Temple
Red Ribbon area, near the end of Xiaoputuo area
Points of Interest around Dongqian Lake
Xiaoputuo Islet
Erlingshan Hot Springs
Surrounding Villages
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