10 fords

Braving the golden weekend crowds, we made a trip to Shidu at the outskirts of Beijing. Oi Yee and Frens, plus Robina's fren, Melissa and her sister Veda joined us as well.

Shidu means "ten fords". It referred to the ten fording points along a river that visitors on horseback (in ancient times) had to cross before reaching Beijing. nowadays, the place has been turned into a typical Chinese resorts with blaring music, cable cars, bungee jumps and trinklet stalls. Incidentally, Shidu is better known for its geological landscape. The eroded mountains and cliff faces were actually quite scenic.
Here we are on the top of a hill overlooking Shidu. Oi Yee was as usual way ahead of us. Robina and I were feeling really out of shape climbing up! must be missing all the Bukit Timah hill walks! Pausing to catch our breath, a 74-old grandad overtook us (he was helped along by a young man, probably grandson).
Snapped a pic of a praying mantis right on top of the hill.
All along the hillsides, persimmons were dangling temptingly on the trees. so much so that many Chinese were either up on the trees, or roaming the woods searching for the fruits.
Tired from the climb, we head downhill for a sumptious lunch at a farm-style restaurant. I read about this restaurant from an internet article. we tried some of the recommended dishes. Most of them turned out alright, like this delicious grilled trout. But the lily bulb soup was a tad strange since it was sweet. We decided to treat it as a dessert.
the Deep-fried freshwater shrimp was quite nice (probably came from the river itself) but we were longing for sambal belacan to go with it.