Shenzhen had so much rain in the past couple of weeks that it was nearly impossible to get out and get some exercise. I had enjoyed the stroll up Nanshan a few weekends before and wanted to go again. The weather kept me at bay though. Well, this Sunday the weather broke briefly and I decided to try a different area, a park in the Futian district with a small mountain, I mean a hill, called Lian Huashan. Having rained earlier that morning, it was incredibly humid. But, what the heck. The park, as is most parks, is very well maintained with an army of people roaming the grounds, picking up junk, tilling the ground for planting, or guarding the li zhi trees so people don’t take the fruit. Speaking of which, there are were so many of these trees covered in li zhi fruit; there must have been millions. Anyway li zhi is incorrectly, but conveniently, pronounced “lee chee” by the western folks and resembles a large white grape that’s encased in a thick, easy to peel skin that resembles wood. The fruit is very juicy and tasty and has a large, hard pit that’s easy to avoid. So, it’s a very popular fruit in China.

Some pictures from this park:

On the “summit” were lots of people, a statue of Deng Xiao Ping, and a nice panorama:

Below there was a lake that’s teaming with fish. Along the southern bank of the lake was a large collection of folks, getting together for relaxation, music, and chatter. It reminded me of a much smaller version of the park outside the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. Lots of folks were feeding the fish and these big brutes would swim over on top of each other to fight for the morsels of food:

And of course, there were several entertaining signs. Here’s the best one:

“Keep off the grass!”