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Our guide Lu Liang says:
"Every year when we celebrate the persimmon festival, we don't pick all the persimmons. Because the persimmons are also a special food the local fish love to eat, we usually keep some for them. When the fruit becomes mature enough and drops into the water, the fish gather to eat it all."
Xixi is also a heaven for birds. There are many bird-watching pavilions in the park. Park officials estimate the number of birds have reached 126 or roughly 50 percent of the total species in the city.
"White egrets are very often to be seen sitting on the tips of the trees and water wheat. They seem to be so relaxed, watching us quietly passing along the waterways. Here in Xixi, I feel like we are the animals who are examined by them, and they are the hosts ruling this land."
When we reach a village called Shentankou, we get out of the boat. Some camphor trees with their special smell grow along the harbor.
Lu Liang tells us a story about the camphor trees.
"The local residents usually would plant a camphor tree in their backyard if a baby girl was born, and then when she got married, her parents would chop it down and make a camphor suitcase for her to keep her belongings in. The special fragrance of the wood would prevent some bugs from eating the cotton clothes in the box."
Hezhu Tower, is located in the center of the village. We climbed up to the top of it for a panoramic view of the whole Xixi area. Looking down from above, the wetland is like a chessboard, where green plants fill the grids and the water surface shines. Gray tiles, white walls and delicate courtyards and houses reflect the elegance of Chinese-style architecture.
I imagined the lives of the local residents—the fishing boats, the beautiful women growing silkworms in the yards, and the old nuns singing holy songs at the Autumn Spring Nunnery in a remote corner of the Xixi waterway. If I not had seen the city buildings to the far east of the wetland, I would still have thought this was an isolated paradise far, far away from the noisy, dusty world.
Lu Liang points to the east of Xixi and says…
"We can see that the whole Xixi area is surrounded by the city. In fact, many property developers are exploiting the land near Xixi. But to be honest, we don't want commercial things to invade this piece of land too much. It's a healthy ecological system, and all the living beings here enjoy their lives very much. But as a precious wetland in city, it's really difficult to prevent the lure of money and keep a perfect environment at the same time."
Persimmon trees also grow here. During autumn more than 6,000 persimmon trees are in full bloom. The park usually organizes a persimmon festival to attract more visitors to pick the mature fruit.
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