Online team springs into Spring

One of the perks of being on the online team is that there is an unrivalled sense of team spirit. Maybe this has something to do with the team building effects of our yearly spring outings.

We decided to go far afield this year to a peaceful city called Ningbo. Known for its seafood, Ningbo is a relatively undiscovered spot for tourists. Its location three and half hours out of Shanghai on the southern tip of the Yangtze Delta makes the city a perfect getaway from the concrete jungle.

The trip started with a crowded train journey last weekend. At 14 members the Shanghai Daily band was the largest and most merry one on the train. We took up three booths and played cards and ate snacks for most of the journey – much to the amusement of the other standing passengers on the train.

Arriving in Ningbo we found a city of spacious streets lined with trees and a leisurely pace of life uncluttered by maddening crowds. Winding along the streets is a slow flowing river with affluent high rises on both sides. Turning down alleyways you can find vignettes of traditional life full of Zhejiang character.

On our first day in the comfort of the mid afternoon sun we explored the Tianyi Pavilion – China's oldest library with its romantic ponds, rockeries and of course library housing Ming Dynasty books. This was followed by dinner where we sampled the famously strong flavours of Ningbo cuisines including "stinky melon" and a variety of seafood. This was all washed down with a loud and raucous drinking game at the end.

At the end of our first night we explored Ningbo's neon-lit nightlife, even stumbling across an area called "Ningbo Bund" which turned out to be more like Xintiandi in Shanghai.

The next day refreshed by a night of rest we battled our way through the chaotic local bus stop for a trip out to the local hills, passing by scenic farms and rice paddies along the way.

In the leafy hills we visited the Tiantong temple and Yang Jian, one of our new news writers, made sure of future good fortune by doing a thorough tour of the temple burning incense for each god. We then went to the adjacent forest park to climb its hills and do some exercises. It is at this point that many of us found out how unfit our desk-bound lifestyles are, and only five of 14 made it to the top. The one charging ahead both on the way up and the way down was of course Martin Guo, our online editor, leading our foreign expert Marc to comment that "Martin is just like a mountain goat!"

At the top of the mountain however apart from an endorphin rush from the exercise, plenty of fresh air, and a sense of achievement, we found not much of a view.

Such is life: it's more about the journey than the destination.