Last night in Hangzhou
Trip Start
Apr 03, 2008
1
12
26
Trip End
Jul 02, 2008
Hangzhou,
China
Friday, May 2, 2008
It's Thursday evening, and Ali and I are leaving Hangzhou tomorrow morning to get a train to Nanjing. The train is at about 9.30am and takes around 5 hours, so I don't imagine we'll get much else done other than finding the next hostel!
On Tuesday we walked around the lake towards the Yellow Dragon Cave Park, which we intended to climb up into to see the view. On the way we saw a boat trip advertised and decided to buy a ticket. The ticket allowed us to travel on the boats for a round trip, visiting the places that we were interested in. The boat took us first to one of the tiny islands in the lake, with nothing of note to do on it. It is a shame that every square foot of the islands has been tamed, so there isn't anything wild to see. After a few minutes of wandering around, we got on a boat to the 2nd largest island, where there are 3 large lakes - like lakes within a lake! It was very beautiful, but so busy that it was hard to enjoy properly. We spent a lot of time looking at the pretty views. We were pleased to see some lotus flowers in bloom on part of the lake, as we hadn't seen any out before then. It was also interesting to see the towers in the water that hold candles and reflect the moon's image into the water 33 times I believe. It's hard to imagine what this must look like at night, very beautiful I imagine.
We caught a boat off the island to the north shore of the lake where we set off into the Park. The whole way is paved, so no special walking gear is required. We managed to walk the wrong way and ended up on the other side of the park, but by this time it was late, and we were hungry, so we just grabbed some food from a nearby kiosk (staffed by a very grumpy lady having a shouting match with someone on the end of the phone!), and looked harder at the map! We eventually found the right way and found the path that led to the top of the peak, and then on the the large pagoda on the mountain, and the Taoist Monastery up there as well. The views were quite good, but not spectacular as the weather is quite cloudy and the sky seems to merge into the hills! After walking past the outside of the monastery, we started to head down the mountain, grabbing an ice cream on the way, and walked back to the hostel. We had made arrangements to meet up with Kenny, who we had met in Hong Kong but lives in Hangzhou, and we got ready to meet him at Starbucks by the lake. We quickly showered and got some dinner at the restaurant next to the hostel. The waitress tried her best to pour my milkshake all over my lap, but I was too quick for her and darted out of the way. Thank goodness - I didn't have many clean clothes left to change into!
We met Kenny and his friend who was also in the area, and after a drink they offered to show us the old part of Hangzhou, and the shops there. It was great to have some local guides with us to explain how things worked. We were bought beautiful lollies made of melted sugar that were made into the shape of various animals on non-stick paper before a stick is pushed into them. They were too beautiful to eat, but we managed it after taking a photo!
Finally, we all went back to the hostel courtyard for a drink at the bar. Kenny mentioned that he had no plans for the following day, and offered to show us around some more. We agreed to meet him in the morning and to decide what to do then.
On Wednesday Kenny met us at the hostel in the morning, and very kindly took us for a day out around the south of the West Lake. We caught a bus to the Tea Museum, which is set in the lower tea fields around the city. We had some lunch at a restaurant near to the museum - it was interesting as Kenny ordered for us according to his taste, and we shared the dishes. We had whole bamboo, and a chicken dish, and egg and tomato soup. The soup was quite unlike any soup we have in England, but it was very nice. I'm glad we tried those things, as we wouldn't have ordered them on our own!
After lunch we got a bus further along the road to the Dragon Well village. This is a village high in the mountain where every house seems to make and sell the particular green tea that grows in the region. We walked around until we found one where we could observe the heating of the tea leaves, and with Kenny's translation we learnt about how the tea is dried and heated a number of times until it is ready. After tasting the tea, Alison and I bought one box of tea to split between us when we get back home. It was really nice as we sat outside the house, seeing the tea being heated, and then the box was packed from an enormous sack of tea leaves right in front of us.
From the village we walked on along a path past the 'stream with nine bends', which are crossed by stepping stones. We walked past a small park, and paid 2 yuan to get in. It was beautiful with a lake, lovely trees of many colours, and not too busy. From the park we walked to the main road to get a bus back into town. We decided to go for dinner at a popular cafeteria style Chinese restaurant. We had a mixture of dishes - some steamed dumplings, a noodle dish made of very very thin fried noodles, some spring rolls, and snails for the brave... It was very nice, and good value too.
Kenny wanted to show us a kiosk where we could get a drink made of tea mixed with milk and sugar and flavouring. It was strange - it tasted like very very very milky tea with about 10 sugars in it, with some rice gelatin bits at the bottom. I have to say that I was not a fan, but Ali enjoyed it and described it as like a tea milkshake! We all sat by the lake, watched the fountain and chatted for a while, until Ali and I returned to the hostel.
Today we did not have any plans, and this was for good reason. It's 1st May today, which means that it is Labour Day in China. This is a big public holiday which will last until the end of the weekend. Soooo many people obviously came to Hangzhou for the day, and the city was heaving! We just had a lie in, and then just before lunch we went to a supermarket to buy a picnic lunch. We walked to a park near to the lake to eat our picnic, but it was really hard to find a spot to sit amongst all the people. We eventually found a place and sat for quite some time, just people watching. Today was especially bad for being pestered by people taking our picture. I know it sounds flattering, but when it happens a number of times a day it really does get annoying. We considered charging a fee for people to take pictures with us, but didn't really have the heart to go through with it!
After a bit of a walk to try to find a boat to take us on to the lake for a trip, and failing to find any available, we decided to head back to the hostel to chill out. It was such hot day today that a quiet sit down in the cool was really appreciated. We headed back out of the hostel to sit at the edge of the lake to finish our picnic food for dinner, and then walked into the old part of the town to have a closer look at some of the shops. It was really busy there as well, but we had a good explore, and saw some interesting things. So many of the things we want to buy are so impractical to carry though - mostly breakable! It's annoying not to be able to get everything we want. Ali had another of the milky tea drinks, but I decided on a whole coconut instead, and later back at the hostel I smashed it open for a tasty snack - it's so satisfying to get into coconuts when it takes so much effort!
I'm really missing you all, but also having a good time here. It's exciting to be moving on to different places, but sad to leave Hangzhou as it is so beautiful. It's just a shame that it is so touristy, as it tends to ruin the views a bit! The place to go for some quiet in our experience was around the Dragon Well village, and the walk beyond it, as we came across very few people when we were walking here, other than tea farmers!
I'll update you again soon - wish us luck for travelling with the masses tomorrow!
Kate xxx
Comments
Hangzhou
It sounds beautiful, not sure about the tea though!!
Hey
Still no tummy bugs? Lucky things...