Shidu

The last weekend trip took us to Shidu, which is theoretically 2 or 3 hours outside of Beijing (but took us 5 because of traffic:( ) After watching much of Final Destination 3, or maybe Final Destination 4 (aren't they all the same?) we pulled up to a massive gravel parking lot in front of what looked like the Chinese equivalent of a fair. Shidu, although billed as a national "geopark" was about as commercial as it gets. After our tickets were checked we walked past the go-karts, Tchotchke stands, and a paintball area. We then crossed the river on one of the most 危险 wire bridges i've seen to arrive in the park proper. From there we did a little hiking: first up to a waterfall and then to a narrow rock gap similar to Rock City's "fat man squeeze." All along the (paved) path, we were harassed by vendors hocking snacks, sodas, and the like. The main event of the day was paddling on bamboo rafts.


On the rafts.

The paddle predictably consisted of some racing, but mostly a whole lot of raft collisions because the area for rafting was tiny compared to the number of boats on the water. Regardless it was a fun experience and we headed home pretty soon after. It was a fun day, but not exactly the kind of experience I would've predicted at a "geopark" so far from civilization.

I now look at my camera and wish I had some photos of the more cheesy side of Shidu, but of course I probably took the only two possible nature photos that could be taken there. Regardless, here they are ;)


looking up at the mountains


the waterfall