rafting

Hi all.For those of you who don't know, there are some tourist options that are quite interesting to view and are not that far out of Ningbo, including rafting available close to Ningbo. Near Xikou town in Fengua area is Simingshan (Si ming mountain) which is actually part of a large mountain range that includes a number of sightseeing tourist sights (best avoided during the holidays). Better to go during the weekdays, when crowds are at their lowest. In amongst all the sights are several rafting operations, all 3 of which I have now tried. Simingshan is bordered by, Yuyao, Cixi, Shengyu and Shengzhou cities, so its a really big mountain range that I have explored many times. It's easy to spend a day driving or riding a motorbike and not backtrack once and still be deep in the mountains.This is specifically about the RAFTING though, which are all quite easy navigatable rivers, around what would be considered commercial grade 1-2. The highest grade or commerciable raftable water worldwide is grade 5, or for real adrenaline junkies (myself included) grade 5+. There are many grade 5+ rivers in NZ which are commercially rafted. However these arte not for the faint hearted, swimming is an advisable skill.The 3 sights in Simingshan are easy graded rivers only made to look and feel more like a higher grade than they really are by the fact that the rafts capacities are mainly limited to 2 persons, thus the rafts are small, making the waters affect seem bigger (when one is at water level). The rivers themselves are flow controlled by dams, and also the navigation channels are man made. Anyway despite any criticism it's great to have rafting so close to Ningbo. For bigger water one can go to the mountains near Tonglu about 350km to the south west of Ningbo, one can enjoy smaller grade 1-2 rivers in two person rafts like in Simingshan or take higher grade rivers in 8 or 10 person rafts. I will write about this another time Back to Simingshan, the closest river rafting sight is about 15-20km up the main Simingshan road from Xikou, on the left past the temple, deep water well and the waterfall tourist sights. One needs to drive or take a commercial bus to the little village past the actual rafting departure point (an old converted power utility building with large ornate bamboo covered entry and bridge), the village is actually the rafting destination but one parks their car there or gets of the commercial bus at the bus stop at this village and then proceeds to the rafting company base (which includes a typical Chinese restaurant) and buys their tickets at the ticket office. Rafting participants are then transported by an open bus type vehicle back to the departure point several km's back up the road from the village. Here equipment, like simple hard hats, lifejackets, rafts etc are allocated or simply selected.Men are stationed along the river to aid in helping the raft navigate the various obstacles. Rafting time is approximately 1 hour.The rafting sight is quite a nice location with a natural mountain scene and surroundings. the price is about rmb120-130/person. very basic instruction, life jackets, plastic helmets and paddles are provided. Another rafting sight is located about 35km from Xikou, and one needs to navigate several intersections to find the location. This river is actually a river that passes through a small village, so the river is less violent, meaning a more tranquil passage and one way to get a fresh perspective on how villages live. Unfortunately this location is not as clean as the other two rivers, since villages use the water for anything from laundry to bathing in (as is custom in almost all villages, in both rural and urban settings). So be warned, don't fall into this river, who knows what parasites live in it. The price is similar to the first and the level of equipment is the same, as is the level of instruction. The third river is my favourite, its even harder than the second to find, about 41km into Simingshan from Xikou take a right turn near a small village then several more intersections need to be navigated... At this sight the river section rafted is about 1.5km longer, and is more natural, with less obvious man made controls (like cement water chutes) being used, which are common on the first rafting sight noted above. The river would be more like a grade 2 or possibly 2.5 in sections, much more an adrenaline rush. The surroundings are also very natural, being in a mountain valley. The same level of equipment is provided as is basic instruction, with men stationed along the route to help the rafts navigate obstacles and assist as necessary. The price is lower at rmb118/person than the other two sights, and the whole operation seems more professional. A simple change of clothes is provided at the end of the trip, simple t-shirt and boxer type shorts, which can be worn after changing or showering in the changing rooms. There was a discount for this sight during the national holiday week, reduced down to rmb98/person (adult). As far as I could ascertain all rafting operations at the three sights will cease mid October due to decreasing water temperatures. They will reopen in May 2008 although when I took a swim in the rivers a few days ago, the water temperature seemed nice enough to me, but then I'm noted to be cool blooded. Anyone interested in a quick excursion to any or all of the sights before they close for the winter, give me a shout... I'm interested in doing more rafting expeditions... Note:Empty all your pockets before embarking on the river trips, you will get wet and may even end up in the water... so if you can swim all the better as you will most likely be drenched by the end of the rafting trips. so why not take a short dip into the mountain water. Also take a change of clothes, a towel, even a picnic lunch and have fun!