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Published: September 2nd 2007
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Garden City
After five buses (three of which went in the wrong direction), a taxi ride, a long walk, a look of confusion when I passed two separate Ferrari dealerships, and a lot of sweating I arrived in Hangzhou: the city touted as the most beautiful in all of China, thanks to West Lake.
Xi Hu, or West Lake as it is translated, is a massive lake which sits in the middle of Hangzhou and it is surrounded by immense parklands on all sides, and in its middle as well for that matter. The name “West Lake” is by no means individual and I must have seen a dozen identically named lakes throughout China, but when you mention the name to a Chinese person in any corner of the country they immediately respond with wishful words and praise of the beauty of Hangzhou’s lake. And with good reason too I have to say.
The lake is perhaps 20km around with every step of that within a garden of some sort. I walked from my guesthouse along the eastern shore, down shaded paths, past flower beds and gardens, over ancient spirit bridges (built in a zigzag fashion in order
to stop bad spirits from crossing), past expensive cafes and restaurants, next to towering fountains, statues, temples and pagodas. There is no place around the lake which does not have some kind of feature, whether it’s a simple statue or a nine storey pagoda, so I was constantly surrounded by beautiful and peaceful scenes. Over the centuries the lake has been gradually beautified by emperors, governors and anyone that wanted their own little piece of opulence.
In the north, a small island sits in the lake, accessible by a causeway built many centuries ago, and it is home to a multitude of attractions such as tea houses, museums, art galleries, a delightful park, and the Association of Seal Carvers. Even with all of these amazing cultural Chinese activities about me I found myself attracted to a different exhibition, one about Pompeii. That’s right, in the middle of China I was examining mosaics, jewelry and casts of the victims of an Italian volcano. Talk about experience the “real” China.
Beyond the lake, which is difficult concept to consider as the lake is pretty much the entirety of Hangzhou, the city is somewhat different to other Chinese cities. The place
seems a lot richer for starters (Porsche dealerships are not common in China), but Hangzhou is also much cleaner and greener than the average city around here. Trees and parks are easy to find and there are many open pedestrian squares and wide boulevards. Hangzhou left a lasting impression of peace and beauty that is not present very often in China (Chengdu is probably the only other exception that I know of).
A Date of Sorts
Ok, perhaps the word “date” is not completely appropriate, but I choose to use it anyway. What actually happened was this… (and don’t blame me if it isn’t interesting, you all demanded that I write it)
From my time in Wuyuan a few days earlier (
How To Make the Best of a Bad Situation) I had been given the contact of my friends daughter in Shanghai, along with 500 kuai which meant that I had to meet her. Being forced to meet girls. . . oh what a hard life I lead. I dropped through Shanghai for a day just for that purpose and arranged to meet her at a guesthouse that afternoon.
Yu Yin, or Eleven as she calls herself in English, turned out to be
an incredibly friendly and fun girl, but there wasn’t a great deal for us to do in Shanghai. I’m not big on shopping and I’d already seen most of the sights so we ended up walking around talking for the whole afternoon. I would have been most happy to sit down in a café for the entire time but Eleven preferred to walk me to interesting places only to find out that I’d already seen it. Nevertheless, it was an interesting afternoon where I learned a lot about young Chinese people.
Later on Eleven took me back to her house so that I could meet some of her friends over dinner. This is where I got to see the similarities and differences between the Australian and Chinese student life. Unlike student houses back home, Eleven’s house was pristine and clean, with nice furniture and no signs of a mess. There wasn’t a second-hand couch which fell apart, there wasn’t a pile of washing lying in the middle of the floor, the dishes had been washed, packets of two minute noodles were not lying everywhere; it didn’t really look like a student house at all. However, there were six people
living in the apartment which was about the same size as my bedroom!
Eleven’s friends were all keen basketball players and they found it very strange that I, at 187cm, never played the game and was totally useless at it; they assumed that all tall people loved the game. Nevertheless, I was very much the focus of attention as they all spoke their best English and taught me Chinese.
We all went out for dinner together, so much for my organised “date”, at the expense of Eleven’s father where I got to taste a stomach-full of Shanghai specialties. I noticed that the student culture in China is in stark contrast to the adult culture. The young men around me were not mad on drinking like their fathers are, they didn’t smoke like chimneys, they weren’t loud and boisterous, and they were overly polite and courteous to the women. I found it to be completely different from all of the other dinner’s that I’ve shared with Chinese people, exactly opposite in a lot of regards. Somehow the new generations of Chinese are aligning themselves more with the west than with their parents and elders.
So, at the end
of the day I had met six amazing new friends (who were so friendly that they all accompanied me back to my guesthouse on the bus so as to make sure I got there safely) and I got to see an entirely new side of the Chinese culture. It wasn’t really as exciting a date as it could have been so I went and watched a movie (Note: walking into a cinema and choosing a film at random based on a series of Chinese characters that you can’t read is not a successful way of seeing Die Hard).
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JC
non-member comment
So where's some pics of the 6 new friends?!?!?! :)