Hangzhou was great! Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang province and is known as the “Heaven on Earth”. We saw a good amount of sights, although since we went with a pretty big group, we didn’t see as much as we could have. We met up at 6:45am and headed to the train, and unfortunately, we missed it. We actually ran through the station (and I got a pretty bad asthma attack, hahaha) but the security line, which was PACKED, stopped us. It was pretty bad. I wasn’t really that upset, but James was so upset with himself. He definitely doesn’t like to fail or mess up when it’s directly his fault. He felt so bad. It all worked out though – we were able to easily switch our tickets and go on our way.
Hangzhou is one of the nicest places I’ve been to in China, except for the taxi drivers. On our ride to the hotel, which wasn’t far, but it certainly wasn’t walking distance, the cab driver grumbled to Jessica (fluent in Mandarin) about how we could have just walked. In the meantime, he sped through, in, and around traffic in a riskier way than any Beijing or Shanghai cab driver…it was crazy!
We made it to the hotel, The Flower Inn, which was in a perfect location. It’s right on the lake and extremely close to almost everything. We walked around for a little bit, as there are a lot of paths and bridges near the lake, and it’s quite beautiful. The water is still relatively dirty, but still much cleaner than anywhere else I’ve seen in China. The lake also creates a very calming atmosphere, so at least in that area of Hangzhou, it’s a little slower paced.
The first stop was the Liu He Six Harmonies Pagoda, which sits right on the lake and has an amazing view. It’s six stories tall, and the floors depict the tale of the white and green snake and the broken bridge – essentially a forbidden love story, which is a genre very popular amongst the Chinese.
We then hopped on a bus, attempting to go to another historical area, but quickly realized we were on the wrong bus! We were worried for a bit, and then realized we were headed to the Running Tiger Springs (Hu Pao Springs), and decided to go there (which worked out, because I really wanted to go there). Once we entered the grounds, it was immediately cooler; everything including the rocky ground was damp. It was humid like the rest of Hangzhou, but because of the spring water, it looked as if it had just down poured on the area. It was perfect, since it was very hot that day.
We walked up to the spring, side by side with a stream of beautifully clear water, and eventually ended up at a small road. There was a building to our left, surrounded by cars, and in front of us, the path we’d been on continued upwards, slightly steeper than before. Curious as to what was ahead, we walked up the path. It went on, and on, and on. It was pretty steep, and the stone steps were still pretty wet and covered in wet leaves (good thing we all kept our footing!). We must have hiked up the steps for a good 30 or 45 minutes, until the trees thinned out and we could see a view of several hills, covered in tea plants. Although the steps kept going, we turned back because it started to drizzle and we were worried about slipping on the way down. Of course, I made sure to run a kata (Naihanshi Sho) before heading back down – I couldn’t resist, it was such a great view and an intense climb!
We walked back down the path, and explored the building we’d passed before. That housed the actual tiger spring, which had a statue of a tiger, as well as a fountain pouring out the water. It was pretty, but I enjoyed the hike so much more!
We went to an old street to get lunch afterwards, which was relatively uneventful. It was funny, however, that the street had about five restaurants in a row, all with the same exact name. One must have been the original, and amazing, and everyone must have copied it in order to draw in customers, as well. I don’t think we chose the original, but our meal was still pretty good!
It was getting pretty late by this time, so we headed over to the location that was showing Impressions: West Lake. The “Impressions” shows were directed by the same director of the Beijing Olympics opening show and the movie Hero. They’re live performances, with tons of performers. The west lake one is especially cool because it’s all on the lake. The stage is just under the water, so it appears as if all of the characters are walking on the water itself. The show depicted the same story that the 6 floor pagoda did: the story of the two snakes. It was a really well done show, but I enjoyed the one that I saw last year, in Shandong, about the history of China.
James and I woke up early on the second morning to rent a tandem bike and ride around the lake. The bike itself isn’t scary once you get the hang of it, but Hangzhou traffic is, so I was grateful James was driving, and not me! We were completely fine, of course, but I hate driving anywhere near cars in China.
We spent a while trying to find a lake full of carp, and I ended up trying to ask a worker where it was. She was completely lost, and looked at me, dumbfounded. However, an elderly man that was walking by at the time (there were hundreds of elderly out and about, and they all looked SO happy!) eagerly listened to my hesitant Chinese words – after all, asking where “the lake full of carp fish” was wasn’t really a phrase my textbooks had taught me. He thought for a moment, and his eyes lit up. He eagerly pointed to his right, down the road, stating that the pond was a ways down the road. It was such a small event on the trip, but the man seemed so happy to be able to help, to solve the puzzle that some foreigner had presented him. It was great, especially after having experienced so many tense and seemingly angry elderly people over the past few weeks, while in the city.
We managed to finally find the carp pond, and in some spots it was practically red since it had so many carp. They’re pretty cool looking fish, especially when there are a lot of them, and some of them grow to a massive size and just push through all of the tiny ones.
The second James and I returned the bike and walked into the hotel to wake everyone else up, it started down pouring. Good timing! We all went to a bakery down the street for breakfast – which cleverly leaves its doors open to draw in passerbys with its spectacular aromas – and the food was absolutely amazing. We had an assortment of breads and sweets, none of which were similar to what the US commonly has. There were egg tarts, a piece of bread with egg and sausage on top (sort of like pigs-in-a-blanket, but with more bread), and a bun filled with a sweet orangey filling. What a good way to start the day!
We walked through the rain to the Museum of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which was a lot smaller and less taken care of than I would have hoped. The area that actually prepares and sells medicine was busy with a flurry of customers and doctors, and it was really cool to see how they prepared all of the different concoctions. The museum itself, although informative, could have been a little cooler. However, I did learn a little bit. Hopefully I’ll be able to meet a traditional Chinese medicine specialist at some point during my stay here. I feel like they’d be a great person to converse with.
The rain was relatively weak at this point, so we took a boat ride to an island on the lake. As the rain eventually completely subsided, the sky actually became blue! Although there were still clouds in the sky, for the first time in weeks we were able to enjoy a clear sky, which paired quite nicely with the Hangzhou scenery.
The island just had a lot of trees and great views, but it was pretty cool since it had a lake – which, technically, means it’s a lake with in a lake. That’s so cool! The water here was also pretty clean, but not as clean as the water in the Hupao springs.
After returning from the island, we made our way back to the train station. Overall, the trip was very successful and I think that Hangzhou is one of my favorite places in China. It is technically still a city, but the pace of life is still a little bit slower than that of Shanghai or Beijing. The only real negative is the stubborn taxi drivers.
Overall, I’ve had so many great experience in China, and it’s only been a few weeks! Not even a month of this trip is up yet, and I feel like I’ve learned so much, grown as a person, and learned more about myself, the world, and what I need to do in the future. Classes are still enjoyable, although they’re challenging and have definitely allowed me to see and learn about the viewpoints of the Chinese. There are so many things I overlooked last time I was in China, and coming back and staying for a longer period of time was definitely the right choice for me to make.
Adventures of Biz 