Just another little spot on the Xuanwu Lake islands... this was a long paved path with a roof of branches. I wanted to get a picture of the whole thing, but there a gaggle of cleaners in fluorescent jackets who kept getting in the way... and they weren't going anywhere, because there were a couple of foreigners to stare at! (We're getting lots and lots of curious looks generally, along with small children yelling "Hello!" as loudly as they can. Teenagers too, for that matter. It's one of the hazards of coming to somewhere like this, and we're still in the big city at the moment...)
Anyway, these trees were just too good to pass up. Although there were no leaves yet, we're pretty sure it's Wisteria. The Chinese species can have white or blue flowers as well as purple, and apparently they're very fragrant. Another place to go back to in the summer - we've looked up the flowering times, and mid-May should just about be perfect.
A bit of news - we've just heard I've got a grant from the Natural Sciences Foundation of China, which will cover the costs of fieldwork in the UK this summer. We've also just had our residence permit confirmed, which is a relief. That's the immediate essential paperwork sorted... :-)
Congrats on the grant.
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