Hanging out in Hangzhou

Our Weekend Away

This weekend we travelled 1.5 hours out of Shanghai by train to the city of Hangzhou (pronounced Hang-Jo, much to my parents’ amusement).
Hangzhou is the capital of the Zhejiang province and is renowned for its historic relics and natural beauty. It is often known as one of the most beautiful cities in China. It has been ranked as one of the ten most scenic cities in China. One of Hangzhou's most popular sights is West Lake. The lake itself covers an area of 6 km2 and includes some of Hangzhou's most famous historic and scenic places. Tea is an important part of Hangzhou's economy and culture. Hangzhou is best known for originating Longjing, a famous variety of green tea.

Whilst we were there it was the Hangzhou International Fireworks Show. Hangzhou is one of the few cities in the world that can light large-scale fireworks in the downtown area thanks to the unique geographic environment of the West Lake. Ever since 1998, the West Lake International Fireworks Show has been held annually in Hangzhou, when 15,000 fireworks from all over the world are set off above the central water area of the West Lake, veiling the lake with gorgeous lights. Over 500 thousand people attend the show every year, and the display is broadcast live to as many as 43 countries and regions.

When we arrived we had just enough time to go to our hostel and get ourselves sorted for the evening. Our hostel itself was a talking point. Called the 4 Eyes Backpackers Hostel, it was situated at the top of a very steep hill which was fun to pull my mini suitcase up! Marion and I were in a twin ensuite room as I didn’t fancy sleeping in a 10 bunk-bed dorm with the others - even if it was only £2 a night in there! Described online as: “Groups of timber frame houses are complex ups and downs, vary with the shape of the mountain. Walking inside our hostel, seeing the unique character within the 'little bridges and riverbanks, Whitewashed wall black eyebrow coloring tile’ .Walking around our hostel, feeling the aboriginal cozy life, your steps will always take slowly.” - made me interested to see what it would be like! In reality the hostel was very quaint and had a lot of personality one might say - see pics taken from their website as I forgot take any. Marion and my room was tiny but not bad for £6 a night!

For our first meal we wandered down the hill and ate at a little “restaurant” at the side of the road. Their one tatty English menu amused me a lot and I took a photo of it. I stuck with noodles and vegetables, rather than try the “rotten skin green vegetables” or “sauce explodes stew” - tempting as those sounded.

We then ventured to the “drunken cockroach” so named for the dirtiness of the bar and the cheap alcohol. We had several drinks there and played a few drinking games, where Martin officially made flies “animals”, and Alex informed us that England is in fact not a country, because the UK is. Numerous “discussions” (aka arguments) ensued. We then had a walk around the lake and finished off the night with a late-night McDonalds!

The next day we decided to explore the tea-growing area of Hangzhou where they grow and brew Longjing Tea on the hillsides. It was beautiful up there and the air was so clean compared to Shanghai. We ended up having a mini-tea ceremony with a little old woman at her house and we tried Longjing Green Tea with her for £1 a cup.
We went to a Japanese Noodle Restaurant for a late lunch, which was really good even though some people had to wait ages for their food. Alina and I then went back to the hostel to get ready for the evening because after the fireworks we were going to go straight out for the night.

The number of people that descended on Hangzhou for the fireworks was unbelievable. I have never seen so many people all in the same place except for at outdoor pop concerts or gigs. It was so busy our mobiles stopped working due to the number of calls and texts being made blocking the networks, and we lost each other for a while. When we found each other we took our place in the crowd ready for the fireworks.
The fireworks were the most amazing ones I have ever seen! I took some photos and some I got from the city’s website but the most amazing ones I couldn’t get photos of. They had ones that burst into a star shape, with a firework at each point so to speak. Some burst into smiley faces, and some into the numbers 09. Others exploded into a candle shape complete with flickering “flame” and burnt out so slowly that it looked like candles were drifting down the ground from the sky. It was incredible! The display lasted around 45 mins non-stop.

After the fireworks had finished we went to another Japanese noodle place for a late tea, then went to the drunken cockroach again for drinks before we went clubbing. Alina, Aaron, Martin and I went to a club I’d found online, and we happened to meet a woman who worked there so she got us in for free! Unfortunately the drinks were pretty expensive (by Chinese standards) - £4 for the equivalent of a double vodka and coke. So we didn’t drink much more in there, but it didn’t matter as we had a great time just dancing.
On Sunday we had just enough time for 4 - 5 hours sleep before we had to check out of the hotel and go home. We wandered around the centre of Hangzhou for a while then walked to the train station for the journey home.

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