Tonglu Fenghuang Hotel

... a pretty amazing view. It was the first time we could actually see how big Shanghai was-there were skyscrapers for as far as we could see in all directions. Chad and Jennifer also met up with us there. They had been at the Fabric market earlier picking up all of the clothes they had made. After having them re-fit, they were very happy with everything they bought. Tomorrow we will all go to pick up our ...

... on the ground. Trey comes sprinting around the corner (in perfect form of course) and we get a ride to the airport. This cabbie knew we were in a hurry and it showed. He flew down the roads, with the horn depressed the entire time. We made it in about 17 minutes. We all checked in and made with some time to spare. Then we board the plane. This is the nicest plane I have ever been on. You have your own TV in each seat, with video games and movies in English. I started going with ...

... photos of the scenery. A couple of days ago we visited the tea museum of China a little way out of town on bikes we hired from one of many local stalls. The experience was a little hairy due to some inventive local driving styles but really nice too, we got to see tea being grown and processed and saw a bit of the local history. Bought quite a large amount of the stuff too, it'll be really interesting trying to get it all packed up for tomorrow's journey to Nanjing. A

... we don't much like it. Staring back and looking angry (not hard to do) seems to work. That aside, the one morning I had when there was a bright blue sky, Xi Hu was certainly a pleasant place for a long stroll, and the eastern side of the lake was blessedly free of the crowds of the estern shore, and actually quite a peaceful place to be. Further back from the lake, the mountains do provide a gorgeous backdrop for it all ...

... ne sono parecchie solo pedonali. Ma il bello sta attorno al lago. Le dimensioni esatte non lo so, oggi ci abbiamo fatto il giro saranno stati circa un 8 Km ma non so esattamente. Quello che so e che attorno a tutto il lago c e un parco! E anche questo e molto curato e ben tenuto. Hangzhou non sara famosa come Pechino o Shanghai ma di ...

... more impressive than Lake Baikal. We are staying with another 'Hostelling International' hostel as in Beijing and Shanghai and they are proving to be perfect for what we are looking for. I'm struggling for things to write here so I'm off. All is going very well.

... on as I am too old these days to miss a night's sleep without making up for it. Came up with the ideas for two movies before heading on. I explained to Micah that under no circumstances would she get me on a motorbike taxi and we waited for the bus to take us to some little town. We scoffed a cheap meal of Hot Pan Beef or whatever its literal translation was and decided we had already seen too much of this lousy town. There was another town a ...

... ago, some of which survive. We arrived at the 16th century Kat Hing Wai and were immediately invited to have our photo taken with a gaggle of old Hakka women in traditional hats. Being suspicious why they were so keen, I wasn't surprised when they asked for money after the photo was taken. The village wall remains, as do little pockets of brick buildings scattered about. The majority of the buildings are new. The inhabitants seemed only to speak pigeon Cantonese ...

The slow pace of my visit to Hangzhou was controlled by the weather. Every day was humid, without breeze, and pushing 38 degrees. Sitting in the shade without movement still brought on profuse sweating. Even the locals were constantly dripping, and parasols were everywhere (although sadly only held by women). I finally gave in yesterday and bought a Chinese fan. In Britain, a man waving a fan would seem effete, but fortunately here it's relatively common. The day-time ...

... quite a few sites around the lake and we pedaled to many of them stopping along the way to snap a few pics or just enjoy the view. Quite a few of the places told old Chinese legends, like the one about Lady White Snake, so we heard a few stories and just enjoyed riding around. Jason had to leave for his dorm a bit later and we said our goodbyes and will travel off to Suzhou, which has some of Chinas best traditional gardens.