Hang Zhou, China
It was only 1H50 to get to Hang Zhou and it was absolutely glorious when we landed. In fact, it was positively TOO hot. Blue skies and at least 28C but it felt like a lot more in the sun. You could tell just by the quality of the tower block and their architecture that the standard of living here was much higher. We really wanted to do something as the weather was so good but it was 3.45pm by the time we got to our hotel and our guide felt it was too late to start anything.
So I thought I'd do some hand washing before Tian arrived. I'd asked our guide to call her so that she'd know we'd be at the hotel a lot earlier but Tian didn't turn up before 6pm as she had her 3 friends in tow so we just had to hope that the weather would hold. We all headed to the local market and then went to a nice restaurant at the top of a tower block, where we had a private section just for us (we felt like VIPs but it's quite standard here in half decent restaurants). I'd have enjoyed the meal experience a lot more if I hadn't had a headache I think but it was lovely catching up again and her friends gave me more travelling tips and suggestions of other places to visit. By 9.30pm Nathalie & I were just brain dead and just grabbed a cab to go to our hotel.
I have to say it is the most awkward feeling when you are in a cab with a complete stranger and cannot understand a word of the language. He took us through a long tunnel at one point (a different route than the way we came out to the restaurant) and Nathalie & I both had this sinking feeling that we may never be seen again. She was telling me 'if he takes us down a deserted road or drives out of town, we'll have to jump out of the car at the first red traffic light'. Of course, the guy was honest and dropped us off ok but I can't tell you how relieved we were to see the hotel sign. It seemed that the ride had been endless and we felt so very vulnerable having absolutely NO directional clue at all.
The next day our guide picked us up at 9am and we headed for the West Lake to start our mini cruise (about 40 mins). It was packed with Korean and Japanese tourists, as well as zillions of Chinese so we joked that our guy didn't need a flag as Nathalie's blonde hair in this sea of dark hair was like a flag in itself. As usual, she got endless stares... but also great compliments. One guy stopped and told our guide 'she is more beautiful than the lake' :) Mother will be well pleased. I just advised her to enjoy it whilst it lasted :)
Our boat was very pretty, looking like a dragon, but the cruise was most disappointing as it was far too noisy (many tour guides with loud speakers on top of the usual chit-chat) and, sadly, the dreaded mist was back and made it pretty much impossible for us to see all the temples and pagodas on the shore. The only 3 we sailed by were the mini ones that are on the lake to show where it is the deepest (4m when the average is 2m). The mini pagodas are also used during the moon festival as part of the celebrations and they are the design for the 1Y bank-note here. So quite a famous landmark.
We then went to the Pagoda of the 6 harmonies (I think it was the name), built in the 10th century. The design was interesting because from the outside you could count 13 storeys but inside you only walked up 7. This is because in Buddhism, 7 is the highest number. However, the steps were quite steep, didn't always have hand-rails, and the mist was so thick that we felt it was pointless going all the way to the top as there was no 'view' to enjoy. We therefore felt we should just spare our legs and only went up three storeys.
The next stop was the beautiful Buddhist Lingyan Temple. It was a huge complex and has the highest statue of Buddha in the world (76m). It had a lot of very beautiful craft, it has to be said, but I personally found it quite distressing to see so many bow to these statues of several Gods and to give offerings and incense when it's so totally against my own religion but Nathalie would argue I'm not tolerant enough... hum. We had to agree to disagree on that one. I think that only my Christian friends will understand what I mean.. I don't really expect anyone else to.
We really wanted to swing by the zoo to see some pandas (as it was nearby) but our guide felt it was too cold for the pandas to come out of their sheds as they prefer the sun. So, we reluctantly had to pass. It was indeed, quite cold the whole day. The temperature had probably dropped to 12C.
We got back to our hotel for 4.45pm and I really wanted to go for a stroll around the West Lake (Hang Zhou's most delightful feature) as it was our last chance but I felt it was best waiting for Tian to arrive. Because of the traffic and drivers changing their shifts between 4.30 and 5.30pm she didn't get to us before 6pm again so it was getting quite dusky by then.
Still, we hopped in a cab and got off at the most scenic spot and really enjoyed our stroll. It was getting harder and harder to see the countless beautiful azalaes though but thanks to my camera's long exposure function I was able to take some photos that looked like daylight !!! Then we'd look at the screen and go 'oh wow, so this is how much better still it looks by day'.
They had a bit of a light show over the waters, but a bit too far. Still, it made the skies change from white to purple and was quite pleasant enough. We then went to a restaurant where only the locals eat - very good value for money and very good food. Not ONE word of English thoug. Not even on the Coca Cola or Sprite bottles (I took photos for my album).
And next door to this was Hang Zhou's oldest street. Most of it had been destroyed over the years and re-built so it wasn't as old as it looked but it was extremely beautiful with lots of wooden facades. It was full of souvenir shops and restaurants but it was really nice and was probably the part I enjoyed the most in Hang Zhou (as the lake was a bit too dusky to 'see' it properly -- though, admittedly, it was a lot more peaceful in the evening than by day when it' s completely packed).
By 9.45pm Nathalie was really brain-dead and needed to hit the sack so we had to say good-bye. We had a 9am pick up again to get our train to Shanghai next day. We felt a lot safer in the cab the 2nd time round as we knew what to expect. Cab fares here are incredibly cheap - a big help as you need to use so many (getting on a bus is just too challenging with people fighting to get on we were told). It's about 20Y (GBP 2) for 20 minutes in a cab (but only half for just a few minutes), when you'd pay more than that in London just to open the door. No wonder people were always fighting over cabs !
It was only 1H50 to get to Hang Zhou and it was absolutely glorious when we landed. In fact, it was positively TOO hot. Blue skies and at least 28C but it felt like a lot more in the sun. You could tell just by the quality of the tower block and their architecture that the standard of living here was much higher. We really wanted to do something as the weather was so good but it was 3.45pm by the time we got to our hotel and our guide felt it was too late to start anything.
So I thought I'd do some hand washing before Tian arrived. I'd asked our guide to call her so that she'd know we'd be at the hotel a lot earlier but Tian didn't turn up before 6pm as she had her 3 friends in tow so we just had to hope that the weather would hold. We all headed to the local market and then went to a nice restaurant at the top of a tower block, where we had a private section just for us (we felt like VIPs but it's quite standard here in half decent restaurants). I'd have enjoyed the meal experience a lot more if I hadn't had a headache I think but it was lovely catching up again and her friends gave me more travelling tips and suggestions of other places to visit. By 9.30pm Nathalie & I were just brain dead and just grabbed a cab to go to our hotel.
I have to say it is the most awkward feeling when you are in a cab with a complete stranger and cannot understand a word of the language. He took us through a long tunnel at one point (a different route than the way we came out to the restaurant) and Nathalie & I both had this sinking feeling that we may never be seen again. She was telling me 'if he takes us down a deserted road or drives out of town, we'll have to jump out of the car at the first red traffic light'. Of course, the guy was honest and dropped us off ok but I can't tell you how relieved we were to see the hotel sign. It seemed that the ride had been endless and we felt so very vulnerable having absolutely NO directional clue at all.
The next day our guide picked us up at 9am and we headed for the West Lake to start our mini cruise (about 40 mins). It was packed with Korean and Japanese tourists, as well as zillions of Chinese so we joked that our guy didn't need a flag as Nathalie's blonde hair in this sea of dark hair was like a flag in itself. As usual, she got endless stares... but also great compliments. One guy stopped and told our guide 'she is more beautiful than the lake' :) Mother will be well pleased. I just advised her to enjoy it whilst it lasted :)
Our boat was very pretty, looking like a dragon, but the cruise was most disappointing as it was far too noisy (many tour guides with loud speakers on top of the usual chit-chat) and, sadly, the dreaded mist was back and made it pretty much impossible for us to see all the temples and pagodas on the shore. The only 3 we sailed by were the mini ones that are on the lake to show where it is the deepest (4m when the average is 2m). The mini pagodas are also used during the moon festival as part of the celebrations and they are the design for the 1Y bank-note here. So quite a famous landmark.
We then went to the Pagoda of the 6 harmonies (I think it was the name), built in the 10th century. The design was interesting because from the outside you could count 13 storeys but inside you only walked up 7. This is because in Buddhism, 7 is the highest number. However, the steps were quite steep, didn't always have hand-rails, and the mist was so thick that we felt it was pointless going all the way to the top as there was no 'view' to enjoy. We therefore felt we should just spare our legs and only went up three storeys.
The next stop was the beautiful Buddhist Lingyan Temple. It was a huge complex and has the highest statue of Buddha in the world (76m). It had a lot of very beautiful craft, it has to be said, but I personally found it quite distressing to see so many bow to these statues of several Gods and to give offerings and incense when it's so totally against my own religion but Nathalie would argue I'm not tolerant enough... hum. We had to agree to disagree on that one. I think that only my Christian friends will understand what I mean.. I don't really expect anyone else to.
We really wanted to swing by the zoo to see some pandas (as it was nearby) but our guide felt it was too cold for the pandas to come out of their sheds as they prefer the sun. So, we reluctantly had to pass. It was indeed, quite cold the whole day. The temperature had probably dropped to 12C.
We got back to our hotel for 4.45pm and I really wanted to go for a stroll around the West Lake (Hang Zhou's most delightful feature) as it was our last chance but I felt it was best waiting for Tian to arrive. Because of the traffic and drivers changing their shifts between 4.30 and 5.30pm she didn't get to us before 6pm again so it was getting quite dusky by then.
Still, we hopped in a cab and got off at the most scenic spot and really enjoyed our stroll. It was getting harder and harder to see the countless beautiful azalaes though but thanks to my camera's long exposure function I was able to take some photos that looked like daylight !!! Then we'd look at the screen and go 'oh wow, so this is how much better still it looks by day'.
They had a bit of a light show over the waters, but a bit too far. Still, it made the skies change from white to purple and was quite pleasant enough. We then went to a restaurant where only the locals eat - very good value for money and very good food. Not ONE word of English thoug. Not even on the Coca Cola or Sprite bottles (I took photos for my album).
And next door to this was Hang Zhou's oldest street. Most of it had been destroyed over the years and re-built so it wasn't as old as it looked but it was extremely beautiful with lots of wooden facades. It was full of souvenir shops and restaurants but it was really nice and was probably the part I enjoyed the most in Hang Zhou (as the lake was a bit too dusky to 'see' it properly -- though, admittedly, it was a lot more peaceful in the evening than by day when it' s completely packed).
By 9.45pm Nathalie was really brain-dead and needed to hit the sack so we had to say good-bye. We had a 9am pick up again to get our train to Shanghai next day. We felt a lot safer in the cab the 2nd time round as we knew what to expect. Cab fares here are incredibly cheap - a big help as you need to use so many (getting on a bus is just too challenging with people fighting to get on we were told). It's about 20Y (GBP 2) for 20 minutes in a cab (but only half for just a few minutes), when you'd pay more than that in London just to open the door. No wonder people were always fighting over cabs !
posted by Sylvie at 1:30 AM
<< Home