It's raining, it's pouring...

…but Dad and I are still trying to have fun in Fuzhou =P

This morning after breakfast, we decided to go walking around the “Little West Lake,” a smaller and less famous cousin of the one in Hangzhou. It started drizzling just a few minutes after we arrived, but luckily I came prepared with both an umbrella and my trusty blue poncho from Malaysia. The taxi dropped us off on the eastern side, and we simply walked over the causeway to the small islands in the middle, where there are umpteen pavilions, some gardens, and even a small amusement park (though none of the rides were running).

The gate where we entered the park

Willow-lined walkway (very much like Hangzhou!)

We ambled around, crossed another bridge, and found ourselves at the West Lake Academy, where Dad was pleased to find a bust of Lin Zexu (1785-1850), a Qing dynasty official who fought against the British in the Opium War. There wasn’t much left of the academy, just the central courtyard, a couple musty-smelling exhibit halls, a small garden off to the side, and a plaque marking where a Song dynasty temple had once stood. We walked around some more, occasionally stopping to take shelter in a pavilion when the rain became too heavy to see easily, then eventually found ourselves at the Fujian Museum. I had been expecting something about the province’s history, economy, geography, etc, but what we found was more of an art gallery, with an eclectic mix of pieces.

Lotus pavilion at West Lake Academy

Main courtyard of the academy

Dad in front of the Fujian Museum

Mural around the side entrance

Below: artwork from the Fujian Museum

Unfortunately, the museum was also tucked away in a quiet backstreet, so we had to splash through a couple blocks of deep puddles and pouring rain to find the nearest taxi stand, where we caught a cab back to the hotel to dry off. A quick lunch later, we were in a car on the way to the Mawei shipyards and former naval academy, where we met a Mr. Lin who took us on a tour of the historical museum. The facility is fairly large (the building was formerly used as a boatyard), but most of the archival material (e.g. photographs and drawings) is in a smaller space upstairs. The main hall downstairs has precisely 14 busts of historically important people (one for each column) opposite several sculptures of various tableaux.

Main hall of the shipbuilding museum

Bust of Zhan Tianyou, the "Father of China's Railways" and a Yale alum

One of several sculptures showing the ship-building process

It's still a functional shipyard!

Sculpture at the upstairs entrance

As impressive as this may sound/look, the reality is kind of sad. The museum is little-visited –our touching the busts left marks in the layer of dust and half the lights weren’t on upstairs – and Mr. Lin is probably the only person who is really passionate about preserving the stories of the shipyards. He was able to tell us about every single person who was represented in the line of sculptures, and he’s also written several essays/edited several books (he gave one to Dad as a gift). When he retires next year, it seems doubtful that anyone will be interested enough to take his place…

We next drove up the hill to the freshly-restored A-Ma temple overlooking the shipyards, as befits a goddess of the sea. The main courtyard was huge, even incorporating a stage for theatrical performances, and everything was beautifully detailed. According to the guide, some of the woodwork was actually Canadian maple, all carved by hand. Dad went around with a bunch of joss sticks (try lighting a match in pouring rain!) and burned paper money/firecrackers as well (they have a covered bin that you put the firecrackers in, so it’s slightly more safe).

Main courtyard

Stage on the other side

Central statue of A-Ma

Dad attempting to burn paper money in the pouring rain

Firecracker bin (those worked, clearly)

After that, it was an extra-long drive back to Fuzhou because the rain was coming down more heavily than ever. Every car and motorcycle created huge plumes of water, soaking all the poor pedestrians on the sidewalk, and the shallow gutters were not nearly enough to handle the downpour, so they simply overflowed as well. Some unfortunate police officers were at the worst intersections trying to direct traffic, but it’s kind of difficult to do so effectively when one hand is holding an umbrella. We finally made it back to Wusi Road and met Mr. Chen for a rather fancy dinner in a private room of his hotel restaurant. Sorry, no photos (that would have seemed weird/impolite), but it was quite good. From there, it was back to our hotel, where we dried off and now we’re going to sleep =P