We went to Green park in Kunming in the morning. It is a pleasant park with fingers of water going in every direction. I have never seen a park with such high use. There were groups of dancers everywhere (mostly retired ladies). It seems anyone with a boom box can start a dancing club. Most of the groups were line dancing, but with an Asian flare. They were dancing among the trees, in the green spaces and on the lake promenades. There were also musicians quietly playing on the park benches and around the water edges. For people-watching it was excellent. The people watching works both ways – a Chinese photographer with a super-long lens approached me and showed me pictures he had taken of Joan and I touring the park.
After our stroll in the park we walked up to an old temple near the park. I bought a road atlas in China and it only has Chinese characters. I am learning to navigate by reading the Chinese characters on street signs. Unfortunately I can only remember 2 Chinese characters for 30 seconds so I walk around with atlas in hand. The temple we visited was first built in 1200 and restored several times after fires and earthquakes. It was the first temple we had visited in China and there is a difference between Chinese and Vietnamese architecture.
In the afternoon we visited the zoo, but the cages were so shabby and some of the primates looked so forlorn, we left after a brief visit.
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