Back where it all began.

After days of planes and trains, we head to East Lake for an afternoon walk.

Our bus unhelpfully terminates right on the highway and so we have to hop a bunch of barriers to reach the park entrance.

Let’s take the metro home.

Last time in Wuhan - November 2019 - this station was a giant hole in the ground; but plenty has happened since.

It’s a sunny Saturday, not too hot, and inside the park is popping.

Maybe folks appreciate huge, open, cooling, car-free spaces?

We fumble with cash for a mango yoghurt and although it’s hazy, I take out the real camera for a bit.

As I’m travelling with a burner laptop, processing will have to wait.

After, we want a beer and manage to locate a spot just off the metro route home.

The neighbourhood is under construction (later we learn this is the future #12 metro, a loop line which will link the city’s high-speed rail stations) and we take a wrong turn into an apartment complex which may well house half the city’s deliveryfolk and is quite effectively sealed, it turns out, from the adjoining hotspot neighbourhood.

We arrive at Depot Coffee Beer Bar just as they’re switching from coffee to alcohol and share the cooling dusk together with some unexpected finds:

• a beer brewed with Yakult
• another brewed with green bean paste
• a purple rice lager made in collaboration with one of our favourite East Village restaurants

Good hunting.

On the way out, a quick snap with the phone to remember this hard-earned moment of peace.

#wuhan #hubei #china #eastlake #beer #momentofpeace #goodtobeback