#daning park

[mensministry]

The Lake House, Daning Park, Shanghai, China,

A Life Experience Pavilion by Wutopia Lab

Photography: LIU Guowei

[sevrage]

[gigglefunny-blog]

A (Fake) Beach And A Whole Lot Of Cosplay

This was Day 3 (technically Day 5, but I didn't do anything the first two days) of my Spring Break. I originally wanted to go somewhere awesome and far away, but we decided that Daning Park was far enough. Alecia and I got up, put on our couple shirts and headed out.

We had Brunch at the Rice Place (called such by us USAC Students because it gives you unlimited refills of rice). I ordered Kung Pao chicken (the chicken at Rice place is always fresh) and it was good (it had CARROTS!).

Unfortunately, Alecia ordered something funky (like she always does). I think it was cow stomach. Like, yum....

While eating, we decided to ask the girls next to us what they were eating. Instant friends!

It was still early, so we wandered over to get something printed for Alecia. While walking we had some ice cream to cleanse our pallet.

Originally we hadn't planned on going to Daning Park, but at some point we ended up over at the Singles Dorm and saw a map of the area. Daning looked like a huge place to play and I remembered on of my friends gushing about it.

We went back to the dorm to grab what we needed and then ran into Dominic (who we then convinced to come with us on our crazy adventure). He wasn't "ready" (one of the only boys I know who needs to get ready), so we Started without him.

Walking there was actually farther than we thought (everything looks so close on a Shanghai map). There was tons of hawkers out and we even saw a lady Selling rabbits (and a chipmunk!).

Tickets to get in were-OMG-2RMB. The line was long (because the day was gorgeous and everyone heads to the park on a good day), but we got in quick and took it all in.

We didn't wander far (still waiting for Dominic), but we did catch Sight of some cosplayers. And I was beyond excited because I love cosplay and they were from one of my favorite mangas (Kuroshitsuji anyone?).

Of course I was Shy and I just Stood around Staring at them when what I really wanted was a picture. But they Seemed to be having a professional photoshoot, so I wasn't sure when to butt in. Alecia was totally pushing me towards them and kept trying to Sneak pictures for me.

I kinda gave up and went over to the other side to pout. But in the end I finally gathered all of my courage and Shuffled over to ask. I think one of the photographer's helpers had noticed my fascination from earlier because he Smiled in a way that said "You finally came, huh?" and told me I could take a picture before I even asked. Success!

I think that made my entire day complete and I didn't even care that we had to wait for Dominic anymore. Alecia began doing cartwheels and handstands to relieve her boredom.

Dominic finally came and we set off for the rest of the park. We kept running into cosplayers thought (not that I'm complaining). I kept taking pictures with them (they where all so cute!).

We went even farther in and found a large pond. There were tons of people hanging around the edges, so we went to check it out. They were all fishing for tadpoles! Alecia got beyond excited and actually went and fished Dominic's tea bottle back out of the trash to use as a container. She managed to grab a good amount and so we ended up wandering around with some new little friends.

[Side Note: Yesterday, the maid accidentally threw out the last Surviving tadpole. May they Rest in Peace]

We finally found the "beach" (which was actually a lake with ground-up rocks for Sand...). I think all of China was on that beach, so of course the poor couples that were trying to take wedding pictures couldn't (they should have reserved a Section). Another interesting thing about China is their picnicking style: locals use tents to picnic, instead of blankets (I think this has to do with their aversion to getting a tan).

We were interested in renting boats, but the line was ridiculously long, so that was a no go. We kept going (I Swear this park was like miles long) and eventually reached the English garden part. It was pretty with lots of fountains and even more couples taking wedding pictures.

Plus, another cosplay girl that was really cute!

We managed to find the exit and took a moment to relax (or pass out).

Then we were off to find food. There was a fruit Stall across the way (I asked some aunties passing by where the nearest food was) and also a little Strip mall of restaurants. 

Since we are all frugal people, we picked a cheap restaurant with tasty looking food and it turned out to be a great choice. We had beef and mian and rice, all for like 20RMB.

Of course, I got a beautiful picture that Summed up our day's interaction: Dominic on his phone, Alecia obsessed with her tadpoles, and me taking pictures. Priceless.

All in all, a great (if tiring) day (we had to walk for 30 minutes back to our dorm). The Sun was out and managed to make our day even better (even with the haze).