A Sunday Bike Ride

A few weeks ago the weather was still marvelous considering it was mid-December. The sunny, mostly warm days were nothing to scoff at if you've ever experienced a Shanghai winter. Wanting to make the most of the unusually great weather, myself and a couple of friends (Mark and Alex) decided to spend our Sunday afternoon on a wandering bike ride.

Our first stop was an old Daoist Temple hidden in the recesses of Chinese side streets and housing. It took us a few tries, but we finally wound our way back and through to where the old operating temple stood. While the incense burning and chanting to giant statues that were flipping us the bird (literally) was a little much, it did offer some fun photographic opportunities.

We continued to wind our way up wooden flights of stairs and narrow hallways until we came across this bell:

And this drum:

Alex couldn't resist the temptation to at least pretend to hit the drum.

He walked away before his urge to also strike the bell got the best of him.

After the temple, we continued down a small street/canal-side frontage road that my friend John A says you can follow all the way to the ocean. Well, as the sun was setting and the day was turning cold, we never made it all the way to the ocean, but I was able to capture a serene photo of this barge heading up the canal. I was actually surprised to see a boat this large traveling along it.

We made it back to the LQ just as dusk was setting in and the novelty of a warm winter day was turning into the reality of a cold winter night. What a great way to spend a day off!