Jian and I have been enjoying our first couple days in Fuzhou. We’ve had a chance to recover from travel and explore the city a little before the first library visits begin tomorrow.
Yesterday, I visited the Wushan Scenic Park which is very near our hotel. It’s a beautiful, sprawling park with forested walking paths up the side of one of the three mountains that dot the landscape in the city of Fuzhou. The park reminded me of a tropical version of Mt. Tabor Park in Portland. It was really beautiful and serene.
Today Jian and I walked out to West Lake Park. the city of Hangzhou has a more famous West Lake Park, but Fuzhou’s West Lake is also very beautiful and popular. The park was full of families enjoying the nice weather on a Sunday. Jian remarked how happy all the kids are and what a wonderful place Fuzhou must be to raise a family.
The Fujian Museum is in the park and also has free admission so we dropped in to check it out. And I’m so glad we did! We learned about Fujian history from prehistoric times to present. The displays were very interesting and very well laid out. I especially enjoyed the section on tea farming in Fujian. Not all the signs were in translated in English (many were) but, luckily I had my own live translator with me!
Everyone from the Oregon delegation should be here by tonight and we will have our big welcome dinner in a few hours. We are looking forward to getting everyone together and celebrating our Fujian-Oregon friendship!