Super 8 Springfield South Hangzhou

... considered one of the top four gardens in China and is a World Heritage site. The gardens were built over four hundred years ago by a transportation official for his own private use. It took more than ten years to construct. After the official died, his son lost the gardens in a night of gambling. <br><br>The garden was beautiful and worthy of lingering. A young Japanese couple joined our tour group and listened in ...

... nor ostriches are native to the area or have any cultural significance whatsoever. This means that some one came up with the idea to, at great cost, ship some foreign animals to the islands and turn them into a ridiculous, nonsensical tourist attraction. Why? How many people had to agree to this idea in order to put the plan in to action? Was it put to a vote? Why ostriches? What about emus or penguins or some other ...

... to make sure we'd get a good view. We had a couple of beers and gradually we were joined by more people from the hostel with the same idea. We were excited: A firework display in China is sure to be mind blowing! <br><br>As the crowd gathered and the time drew near we anticipated the flash and bang of the first firework. Suddenly we heard the bangs, and fizzles of the fireworks, and 'oooh's and 'ahhh's of the ticket holding crowds on the lakeside. Then, a huge gasp from ...

... sat under the posts of ancient houses and are beautifully carved. They are located along the paths that go through the area. There were also different tea pavilions and places to drink tea. It was very well done. There was a building named the Tea Culture International Center. I'm not sure what they did there, because it was off limits. It was a very large building though. We wandered the grounds for quite a while before heading ...

... br><br>After lunch we journeyed onto the West Lake area and a cruise on the lake. West Lake covers over 8 square kilometres and is situated at the heart of Hangzhou. Originally the lake was an inlet off the estuary of the Qiantang River, becoming a lake when the river began to silt up in the 4th century. The lake had a tendency to flood, so several dykes were ...

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.

... pelting rain that cools you down a little and leaves you feeling like a wet cat. And there is lots to laugh about here too.<br><br>Al was trying to make his way in China, this is his story. I was standing in line to get tickets to take a boat to an island on the lake. There was one person in front of me at the ticket window buying tickets so I kept a respectable distance of a couple of feet behind the person like we normally would in Canada. I turned ...

... like most oth** temples in Chin*, only th**e w*s * picture of one of them in Lonely Pl*net so th*t m*de me feel * little bit bett**. When I w*s riding my bike b*ck *long wh*t w*s supposed to be the pretty p*rt of the l*ke it w*s thund**storming. I went b*ck to my hostel to sleep through the storm, *nd woke up to go to this street vendor *re* c*lled Qing Hef*ng Street. It h*d * lot of cool stuff *nd *t the end w*s some *m*zing street food. And th*t's my trip so f*r.

... buggy! The room was absolutely massive and had a divine king bed that I could have slept in all day. The bathroom was roomy too. Breakfast at the hotel was also overlooking the lake which was really nice.<br><br>Hangzhou was another place that I wish I had of had more time at to look around. I'm sure there is great shopping there by the amount of shops I saw and probably so many interesting places and things to see.

... and took my history. It took less than 30 seconds and ended with a personal question in front of 10 other people at the front counter. A young doctor recommended a CT scan just to be on the safe side. That was the first CT scan of my life, and I had never imagined I would take it in China! The service at the Radiology Department was, shall we say, non-existent. All of the staff at the front counter ...