Shi Shan picnic

Shi Shan (Lion Mountain) is a park with some nice hills on the Northern edge of Nanning, just within the ring road. My friend from the civil engineering department who cooked at my home a couple of times during my dinner parties, invited me to join his class for a picnic on Saturday.
It was a very nice sunny day, as the super-typhoon Megi was approaching the coast of Fujian province, where 150.000 people have been evacuated in anticipation of heavy rainfall and severe flooding. Just like earlier on its path while passing Taiwan. Hainan island was also heavily hit by storms and rain the previous weeks, and people there are still recovering from the torrential downpours.
Nanning is more than 200 km away from the coast, at a safe distance. I did expect some rain this weekend, after looking at the satellite photos which are showing an enormous white spiral hovering about the South China sea, but today's weather shows no sign of upcoming precipitation. On the contrary, it's like summer again.

We gathered at GXU's South gate, and took bus 206 to Shi Shan park. It looked like more people had the same idea. Many students on the bus where carrying picnic materials. Arriving at the park, it became clear that this is indeed a mass event. Hundreds, maybe over a thousand people streaming into the park from all directions, carrying barbecues, crates of beer, large bottles of water (the type used for those water coolers you see in offices) and large cartons of food.
My friends found a empty spot between the many picnic tables and plastic stools everyone had brought along. I could not believe how many people were there, and it's just a regular sunny Saturday. Apparently this happens every week!

Immediately after dropping the goods, we started preparing the food for the barbecue, while smoke was emerging from countless charcoal grills around us.
Pinning vegetables on wooden skewers, unpacking large bags of frozen meat skewers, bought in professional quantities. It's charming to see how enthusiastically everybody was doing their part of the job, like a giant ant colony. Group activities are the most valued way to spend your spare time in China, the more the merrier!
On occasions like these I'm always surrounded by lots of people who want to talk to me. To practice their English, not necessarily because they want to know me better. It doesn't really help me with my Chinese, but it's a start. I already have more than 20 new Chinese 'friends', who I invite sometimes to smaller gatherings at my place (one-to-one is virtually impossible, they always bring a friend), so I can try to speak Chinese with them, which is impossible if they all simultaneously fire questions to me in English. Do you like China? How long have you been here? Are you married? etc.
As a souvenir I was offered a sky-blue polo shirt, with the logo of the civil engineering club Ferro Concrete.