Crown Plaza Hotel Hangzhou

... with us. <br><br>That pretty much ended the day. I&#8217;m writing this on a 3 hour bus ride to Hongzhou. It&#8217;s raining outside, the windows are fogged up, and there isn&#8217;t much we can see. It&#8217;s actually a nice break. I think I&#8217;ll hit the health facility tonight after dinner instead of spending a couple of hours working on the blog!<br><br>PS &#8211; Dave, did you know that I.M. Pei is from Suzhou?

... don't do tour groups. We went along with this little venture because it was free and we wanted to get to know some of our Chinese colleagues outside of the school, which we accomplished. Our Chinese friends didn't seem to enjoy TGH any more than we did, by the way. If you have the choice, say no to tour groups. Roam the streets aimlessly. Book your own hotels and tickets. Find your own restaurants that are, if possible, far ...

... examinations for FOREIGNERS can ONLY be done by certain registered clinics - don't expect it to be at any large hospital or in the same city for that matter. <br>Once you find the clinic it is alot easier finding one is the hard part - if you need one done hopefully your contact in China has already set it up for you.<br>Cost of the exam = 300 - 400RMB<br>What you must have for a smooth process = 2 or 4 passport sized photos of yourself, your ...

Everyone in Shanghai raves about Hangzhou [Hang-jow] and will tell you that you 'MUST go there, it's wonderful!'. So, as we knew that we had another 3 weeks in China due to canceling the Japan part of our trip, we thought 'why not?!'.<br><br>The more people we spoke to (especially local people) about us heading to Hangzhou next, the more excited we got. They would tell us how beautiful it is, and how nice it is to visit the small city which is situated on the famous West Lake ...

... including the Bai and Su Causeways.<br><br>Our next stop was the Six Harmonies Pagoda, first built in 970 AD to placate the tidal bore, a massive wall of water that rushes upstream during high tide. Over 60 metres high, it served as a lighthouse up until the Ming Dynasty.<br><br>Our Guide next takes us to a freshwater pearl shop before dropping us back at the Hotel.

Departed Suzhou at 9am for a 2 and a half hour drive to Hangzhou, we said goodbye to Grace our Local Guide for the past two days but we keep our driver Mr John. On arrival we meet our new Guide Rain and we are taken to the restaurant for lunch, then onto a local market area where we visited some Chinese medicine shops and an art gallery with bronze sculptures.<br>Arrived at the Hotel at 2pm and did nothing much, went walking and later found a Subway so that was dinner.

... br><br>My favorites in Hangzhou have been the pagoda and the perfectly pink lotus flowers that grow admidst the large leaves that collect the sweat dripping from everyone's brow. China is cleaner than I expected and not as polluted as I thought we would have to get used to. The sky is over cast with clouds that at times open up to sun that makes it even hotter than it already is. Not that I am complaining The other choice is the flash floods of rain ...

... at the back. A 5-star hotel might seem classy and safe, but who knows how long the food has been sitting on those trays? On the other hands, some of my most memorable dining experiences have been at hole-in-the-wall restaurants serving basic home-style dishes, a roll of toilet paper at the end of each table to use as napkins (if they even have this). (To be continued)

... from Hangzhou and had told me how expensive the hotels were. I grabbed one a few doors up from the bus station and paid 80 Yuan and not the 150 Yuan the other couple paid nearer to the lake. The bus ride into the lake was supposed to be around ten to fifteen minutes so I was more than happy. After paying for two nights I headed around the corner to one of Hangzhou's main roads called Moganshan Lu and boarded Bus No ...

... of foreigners cavorting around their town on bikes but it was great fun. Unfortunately though we have to keep on the move and tomorrow we commence a 27hour train ride down to Xiamen in southern Fujian (I think) province. It should be quite a change from what we've had so far, Xiamen is just a small town by Chinese standards with a mere 1.3 million people. So hopefully you should hear from me from down south in a couple of days.