Exploring Hangzhou

Trip Start Jul 08, 2007
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Trip End Sep 13, 2007


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Tuesday, July 17, 2007

After a much better sleep on a soft bed. I had breakfast in the hotel resturant which mainly consisted mainly of berad and jam. I love the bread here, its so light and good!! We then got into a coach that took us to the big Westlake which is one of the major attractions here, it is surounded by hills and gardens, its banks are dotted with temples and pavilions, or that is what the trip notes say, and i find that to be true, its beautiful.

So we could have a look at all of it we had a boat ride through the lake where you could see all of these pagadoas around the lake. The trip lasted a half hour and went all around the lake. On the lake we saw what is on the back of the 1Yuan note! these three little lantern like things (picture when i can again..) inthe middle of the lake. The lake is not that deep, its deepest is just taller than me bout 2m and only shallow bottom boats can go on it!!

After the boat ride we went for a walk around the park there. Our guide did a blitz of the area but i would have liked to stay there longer, it was nice and peaceful. We walked by a goldfish pond and then to the peackocks!! one of the males opend his tail and it was great!!

We then got back on the bus and went to a pagoda that we could see from the lake, it had great views!! and each of the levels of the pagoda had different painting. We then jumped into the bus and went on a trip to Dragonwell Tea Village where they have been making tea for a long time!! There we saw how they make the tea, dry it by hand and then they showed us the different grades of tea the produce depending on the time of year they are picked. from Emperor, Daughter, Mother in Law then Daughter in law or something along those lines. Emperor being the best obviously!!

We also got to tast the tea and told about its history, then we were able to sample som of the other types of tea they have, such as tea made from flowers that 'bloom' (pic) in the hot water, very cool to watch.

Its then back on the bus to go to Lingyin scenic area that alsohad the Lingyin buddist temple which was very cool. We had about 2 hours to explore the area. There are a lot carved buddists on the rock there. it is a working temple so there were peole there worshiping. It was great to see.

In the evening Lyn, Vanessa and I went to a multi diceplin show that had everything from live music to martial arts and acrobatics, Circus acts, dancing, ariel stunts and everything in between. Making this really entertaining was that we didnt even have to clap, they had these clappers in the shape of hands that you shook instead, it was great verry unique!! (i will post pictures when i can)

After dinner bought on the streets we walked down to lake hoping that the light would still be on and we could see what it looks like, but of course they were off and we wernt able to see anything, nstead we decided to find a pub somewhere and have a drink. It was good after the hot and long day. Stine was falling asleep at the table so we called it a day.
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