Wandering Browns

The Birthday BOY! This weekend, we celebrated the birth of a special little boy. I would say toddler, but he's definitely over that stage. He is full-on little boy! I had him pick out a birthday activity, birthday dinner, and birthday cake/dessert beforehand so we could do his favorite things. There is only so much you can do when you are living across the world from all friends and family, so we tried to make it as special as we could. Main pool of the outdoor pool place For his birthday activity, we visited an outdoor temporary water park/pool place that is relatively close to our hotel. We can see it from our window every day, but it is a little pricey, so we have only gone one other time this summer. There are four pools with various large, inflatable slides and obstacles that he loves the play on. There is a shallow pool with a soccer field and an area with a swing! He loves the swing because we have not found a park with a swing during our time here in Ningbo, and...

Main entrance from the parking lot/ taxi drop-off I am from a rural area of California, so city living is not really my style. After a few long weeks in the city, I needed a break. I needed fresh air, trees, mountains, and no cars. Our afternoon at Tiantong Temple filled all of those needs.  Entrance gate Located in the mountains 25 km east of Ningbo, Tiantong temple is a large Buddhist temple that was built in 300 A.D. The legend goes that the founder went up into the mountains to pray and then decided to build a temple and monastery there for other pilgrims. Once it was more popular, he needed to build an indoor eating area. He went high up in the mountains to cut down trees for the building, but he was having a hard time doing all of the labor himself. He prayed for help, and a big storm washed all of the wood he had cut and needed to haul down to the temple. In thanks for that gift, he planted 25 km of trees to shade pilgrims as they journeyed to the temple. We ...

Unassuming entrance, but awesome inside! As far as things to do in Ningbo, I would classify Qing'An Assembly hall and maritime museum as a "hidden gem." When I was looking for things to do in Ningbo, this was not even on the list on the internet! I stumbled upon it on one of our exploration excursions, and returned later on in the week with camera in tow. Especially because my toddler loves boats, this was a wonderful morning outing for us. Plenty of interesting architecture and history for me, and plenty of cool boat models with moving parts for my boy!  Ticket booth is on the side of the building, pictured here The hall is situated along the banks of the Fengua river, and was a meeting place for business men and sailors before heading out to sea. It includes meeting rooms, a Queen of Heaven temple, and several stages for performances and offerings to Mazu, the Queen of Heaven. It was built in the mid-1880s, and was restored and turned into a maritime museum ...