The Outskirts of Hefei

Xinzhan and Taochong Lake

Xinzhan district is near Hefei Railway Station. That area seems quite dense and dirty. There are some very small parks and rivers but there isn't much to see.

But if you go north, there is the Xinzhan park and the Taochong Lake. The roads become wide and there are hardly any people at night.

The locomotive in the park

Stars

There is a small hill in the park, and from there you can gaze at the distant yellow street lights and apartment complexes at night.

On the other side, the railway high above.

Go a little bit north along the road and there is a high bridge with rails down below.

Then we arrive at Taochong Lake.

But the roads in the park around the lake aren't perfectly flat. I bumped my shared bike into a step on the path and fortunately everything was alright, but it's better not to cycle there in the dark.

North Reservoir Area

If you hop off the subway station Siquanqiao, there is the Sili River, a slice of parks along the lake leading to the north reservoir area. There are 2 reservoirs, Dongpu reservoir and Dafangying reservoir side by side. The reservoirs are just a little northeast of Dashu Mountain.

Then we arrive at the Dafangying reservoir, but you can't get close to the reservoir as it's fenced.

Go along the road and turn right, there is the road tucked between the two reservoirs

A few kilometers northward and there is the Dayang , there are a lot of construction sites in the distance. You can't help but feel the sheer scale of all those apartment complexes everywhere.

Beicheng

I won't recommend the Beicheng much. Beicheng is outside of Hefei and a bit north from the reservoir area. There is a lake called Shuangfeng Lake, and I took a taxi there just days when I first arrived at USTC. It proved to be terrible because most parts of the lake are not accessible on foot and there seemed to be dogs. I had to take the taxi right back.

Beicheng appears to be mostly populated by rural migrants, but it's still very populous. There are some parks in Beicheng but they are quite dull anyway. Ask any taxi driver and they tell you it's dull as well.

I went to Beicheng again. There are no shared bikes in Beicheng and it's difficult to walk around, and it was my first time riding a shared motorcycle.

Lake Meichong

You can see the reflection of the apartment complexes of Beicheng in the water here.

I searched on the map and I went to a park near Beicheng, but it's small and boring.

Then I had to stand near a highway waiting for a taxi.