Monday Movers & Shakers {not really}

After the fireworks party (aka Lunar New Year's Eve) that literally went on all night long, we were slow movers today, but we did move.

To save time running errands, mrC and I hopped on the bikes and rode off to pay the rent and buy me a ferry ticket to the airport for Wednesday. I have a serious adventure coming up! Stay tuned!

After lunch we headed back out for a walk to the park. I took mrC on the same loop around the lake that I did the other day. It feels good to stick to my goal of taking more walks. The park was much more crowded with people enjoying their holiday off work and the views were as stunning as always. I love how you can see Nanshan Mountain in the distance. Yep, I climb that!

Our evening with friends was a blast and we even shook things up a little with some fireworks in their garden. Fireworks are a big part of the Chinese New Year celebration. I learned this from a friend: "The practice of setting off fireworks comes from an ancient myth about a monster named Nian, the same word for year. He came once a year and attacked and killed villagers and their livestock as the New Lunar year arrived. An old man supposedly figured out that Nian was afraid of loud noises, lights and the color red. So, each year, houses are decorated with red, and fireworks are set off to scare away the evil spirits." From what I heard last night, I think they were successful at scaring Nian away.

How are you moving and shaking things up today?

Exploring Shenzhen on Foot: Chiwan

One thing that I do a ton of here in China is walk! I can wrack up 10,000 steps before lunch time some days which is really good for my FitBit challenges. My friends in the hiking group know how to help with that.

Today we explored an area of Shenzhen (where I live) called Chiwan. From our Monday hiking summit on Nanshan Mountain, we can see the other mountain which inspired our trip today.

Xiaonan Mountain: aka Little Nanshan Mountain - 850 steps

I met up with the small group and after waiting out some rain underground in the metro station, we walked to catch a bus to Chiwan. From the bus stop we had to walk a little ways up the road to get to the entrance of the mountain. There was quite a bit of construction going on, but a friendly Chinese man on a scooter guided us through. We followed the road until we found the steps. 850 steps later we were at the top where we found an very large observation area and an old fort. Although this mountain is approximately the same climb, the mass is smaller than our regular hiking mountain. Hence the name, little.

Tomb of the Last Emperor:

Our descent off the mountain took us right by this historical spot. Song Shao Di Mu became emperor at age 7 in 1278. When losing a battle with Mongols, his protector Lu Xiufu took him and jumped into the sea. Legend says his body washed up in Shenzhen near the Tian Hou Temple in Chiwan.

By the end of our exploring, my feet were toast, but I completed day 2 of my plank challenge: up/downs and arm lifts. I did 3 sets of 5. Then I relaxed.

Are you a FitBit user?