As you may know, this week is the Chinese lunar new year. Most people migrate back to their home towns. My Mom, Everett, and I traveled to the city of Hangzhou, and what an experience! The town is built around West lake, a huge beautiful body of water. Mountainous hills surround the lake, and behind them, is the city. Bob drove us, and stayed in the hotel, and did several of our activities with us. Hangzhou is about an hour and a half to two hours out of Shanghai. When we arrived to the hotel, we discovered that Some Marriotts don't seem to care about privacy too much. In the hotel room, the bathroom has a glass wall that opens up to the rest of the room through the shower. So everyone could see you use the toilet and take a shower. I skipped the shower, willing to take on the stinkiness. I set up a towel on the retractable clothes line so you had privacy while using the restroom. I was quite happy with my problem solving , to be honest.
After we settled into our room, we put on more layers of clothing, and set out to experience this new city. We walked along for a while, and eventually stopped at a street vendor, who was selling steamed rice cakes. They were cubes, about the size of my palm, of steamed sweet rice. They were truly wonderful. We kept walking and arrived at West lake.It was magical. The lake was filled with boats. All kinds of boats. Little fishing boats, tour boats, one yacht, a golden boat with a huge dragon on the top, small boats that you rent and row yourself, and even smaller boats that you sit in while a native rows from the back. There was fog hanging low on the surface, and you could see the peaks of the hills behind. We walked around the lake with lots of other people.
(Corn was a popular street snack by the lake)
(Dragon boat)
We got to a big open area where couples were dancing to music. On the outskirts of the group was an old lady who had beautiful fans with ribbons hanging off the edges. She was dancing with them. We were standing a few feet away just watching, and she saw us. She danced over, took my backpack off of my shoulders, and grabbed my hand. She pulled me into the middle, and gave me a fan. She then took my arm, and started telling me to dance. As hard as I tried to mimic her movements, I still got laughter from all of the people passing by. After a minute or two, I began to laugh as well :)
Once the song was through, she picked up my brother for a picture. He was quite alarmed, and just sat in her arms speechless. I got quite the laugh out of that.
On the way home, we were trying to get a taxi, but we couldn't. They were all taken. So we sent Bob a wechat and asked him to come get us. I still wanted a taxi, and kept trying to hail one as we waited. I got one! But, as it was switching lanes to pick us up, it ran into another car! They worked it out in less than a minute, because there was no damage to either car, and we still got a ride home from it. The driver was a young man, possibly late teens, early twenties, and he is the only driver I have really noticed. I noticed him because of his eyes. They seemed sad, and therefore made me sad. I have been told I have a big heart. I always cry at the animal shelter commercials, and when I see people mistreating anything living like dogs, and children. Maybe it was just that day, but I was just sad looking at his sad looking eyes. I prayed for him that night, and I hope he is happier now :) Everett was so tired from the day, he passed OUT in the taxi on the way home.
We went to bed early, so we could get up early and explore some more. But first, we got some takeout from the restaurant downstairs in the hotel.
We woke up around 7 a.m, and went for breakfast downstairs. The Chinese breakfast is a bit different from the American's. They eat dumplings, and steamed buns. Yogurt and various sweet breads and pastries are available too. This is all on one half of the room. American style is on the other side. That's where I went. I love dumplings and steamed buns, no doubt, but I would not prefer them for breakfast. I got some scrambled eggs, and bacon. Oh, and I can't forget the donuts and mango juice. That was one of the best breakfasts I have ever had!
After breakfast, we loaded up the car, and began to drive around the other side of West lake. We wanted to go and visit the pagodas and temples in the mountains. We drove up for a while, and stopped to park. We walked and walked until we reached a point where we could buy tickets to go up into the mountains. On the walk up into the mountains there was a small tea market with stalls full of tea. I wanted some tea, so we stopped. Hangzhou has it's own type of tea, called Longjing tea. Hangzhou is very big in the tea and silk industries. There are countless rows of tea. I got some red tea, (Black tea) that smelled like honeysuckle.
We soon reached the spot where the cool begins. A cave with ancient markings are carved into the wall. There are also Buddhas carved into the stone everywhere.
We climbed up stairs carved into the sides of the hills. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. All of the greenery was so pretty.
In the car, we were having a conversation about all three of our "places". I said, "At this exact time of the year, Indianapolis is white, Texas is brown, and China is green!" I find it remarkable how different these places can be on the exact same day.
Hangzhou and Shanghai are very different, and very similar at the same time.
Hangzhou is much smaller than Shanghai. Shanghai is all very compact and crowded, where as Hangzhou is still crowded, but not quite as much. There are near as many tall buildings in Hangzhou. Other than maybe 10 tall buildings, most of the building were only a few stories. Despite the size difference, I feel that Shanghai is actually less intense. In Hangzhou, no one is quiet and reserved.
These two cities have several, but not as many similarities.
Hangzhou and Shanghai both have calisthenics. (The work out equipment in the park) Everett had to stop there, of course :)
This is something I thought odd of me to notice, but I noticed that both cities have similar smells. The occasional sweet smell from a near by bakery, the occasional smell of yummy cooked meat, the occasional somewhat fishy smell, and of course, the occasional sewer smell. The latter, I am sure is because of how there are just so many people living in this space.
This is a family that was quite fascinated with Everett.
Over all, I give this trip a big fat 9 out of 10. Lots of fun, and so many new experiences!!!
We got to a big open area where couples were dancing to music. On the outskirts of the group was an old lady who had beautiful fans with ribbons hanging off the edges. She was dancing with them. We were standing a few feet away just watching, and she saw us. She danced over, took my backpack off of my shoulders, and grabbed my hand. She pulled me into the middle, and gave me a fan. She then took my arm, and started telling me to dance. As hard as I tried to mimic her movements, I still got laughter from all of the people passing by. After a minute or two, I began to laugh as well :)
On the way home, we were trying to get a taxi, but we couldn't. They were all taken. So we sent Bob a wechat and asked him to come get us. I still wanted a taxi, and kept trying to hail one as we waited. I got one! But, as it was switching lanes to pick us up, it ran into another car! They worked it out in less than a minute, because there was no damage to either car, and we still got a ride home from it. The driver was a young man, possibly late teens, early twenties, and he is the only driver I have really noticed. I noticed him because of his eyes. They seemed sad, and therefore made me sad. I have been told I have a big heart. I always cry at the animal shelter commercials, and when I see people mistreating anything living like dogs, and children. Maybe it was just that day, but I was just sad looking at his sad looking eyes. I prayed for him that night, and I hope he is happier now :) Everett was so tired from the day, he passed OUT in the taxi on the way home.
We went to bed early, so we could get up early and explore some more. But first, we got some takeout from the restaurant downstairs in the hotel.
We woke up around 7 a.m, and went for breakfast downstairs. The Chinese breakfast is a bit different from the American's. They eat dumplings, and steamed buns. Yogurt and various sweet breads and pastries are available too. This is all on one half of the room. American style is on the other side. That's where I went. I love dumplings and steamed buns, no doubt, but I would not prefer them for breakfast. I got some scrambled eggs, and bacon. Oh, and I can't forget the donuts and mango juice. That was one of the best breakfasts I have ever had!
After breakfast, we loaded up the car, and began to drive around the other side of West lake. We wanted to go and visit the pagodas and temples in the mountains. We drove up for a while, and stopped to park. We walked and walked until we reached a point where we could buy tickets to go up into the mountains. On the walk up into the mountains there was a small tea market with stalls full of tea. I wanted some tea, so we stopped. Hangzhou has it's own type of tea, called Longjing tea. Hangzhou is very big in the tea and silk industries. There are countless rows of tea. I got some red tea, (Black tea) that smelled like honeysuckle.
We soon reached the spot where the cool begins. A cave with ancient markings are carved into the wall. There are also Buddhas carved into the stone everywhere.
We climbed up stairs carved into the sides of the hills. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. All of the greenery was so pretty.
In the car, we were having a conversation about all three of our "places". I said, "At this exact time of the year, Indianapolis is white, Texas is brown, and China is green!" I find it remarkable how different these places can be on the exact same day.
Hangzhou and Shanghai are very different, and very similar at the same time.
Hangzhou is much smaller than Shanghai. Shanghai is all very compact and crowded, where as Hangzhou is still crowded, but not quite as much. There are near as many tall buildings in Hangzhou. Other than maybe 10 tall buildings, most of the building were only a few stories. Despite the size difference, I feel that Shanghai is actually less intense. In Hangzhou, no one is quiet and reserved.
These two cities have several, but not as many similarities.
Hangzhou and Shanghai both have calisthenics. (The work out equipment in the park) Everett had to stop there, of course :)
This is something I thought odd of me to notice, but I noticed that both cities have similar smells. The occasional sweet smell from a near by bakery, the occasional smell of yummy cooked meat, the occasional somewhat fishy smell, and of course, the occasional sewer smell. The latter, I am sure is because of how there are just so many people living in this space.
This is a family that was quite fascinated with Everett.
Over all, I give this trip a big fat 9 out of 10. Lots of fun, and so many new experiences!!!
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