Second expedition outside of GXNU: Seven-star Park

After lunch on Wednesday, the students traveled to Seven-star park, a large recreational park with many paths, streams, fishponds and vistas for viewing the rest of the city. The park also contains a zoo, a fledgling panda reserve, a large amphitheater for ethnic operas and a cave similar to the one the students visited on Tuesday. The park’s grandest attraction, however, is a large cave-like crack in the side of a mountain, which contains hundreds of inscriptions in the stone, cut into the walls over the years by poets, artists, Calligraphers, political leaders, and other historical figures. The earliest of these carvings dates to 1056AD.

A tour guide explained some of the most famous of the inscriptions to the students. Examples of all eight styles of Calligraphic writing were visible in the cliff walls. After the tour of the inscriptions, students were able to purchase copies of the inscriptions made off of the walls themselves. The group continued through the park, walking along the edge of a mountain and winding its way between mountain and river. At one point the group paused at an empty souvenir stand with a large platform dug into the side of the mountain. Some students noticed that the trees in the pavilion were hanging with large, round green fruit. After resting for a while, the students continued on. As the last student was just about to turn a corner and descend the stairs, she heard a strange animal sound and looked back towards the empty souvenir stand. Coming across the pavilion, two large, furry monkeys trotted on all fours towards the fruit-bearing trees. As she snapped a few quick photos of the monkeys, other students reappeared to see what was keeping her. The monkeys weren’t too afraid of the students, but it was evident that they had been patiently waiting for the group to move through before returning to their fruit.

The students continued through the park and made their way past ice cream vendors, purchasing here and there, past other visitors to the park enjoying the shade and back to the bus, ready for dinner and a little rest. After dinner, many students began studying for the second day of language classes.