China Whirlwind: Part Four

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Thursday, October 10 - Sunday, October 13

Zhejiang, Hangzhou and Shanghai, China



Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home. I can't tell you how excited and proud I was to present Hangzhou to Rachael. If nothing else can be said of her visit here, it is that the weather managed to cooperate completely over the course of the entire thing. Following a 2-days typhoon, Hangzhou was a sunny and beautiful 18°C/65°F both days, allowing for very successful traipsing. It was dried up and clear, and the air felt incredibly clean and fresh in our Beijing-ed throats and lungs.

Hangzhou turned out to be quite possibly the best part of the entire expedition. Hangzhou, I've learned, is really unlike any other major city in all of China. Nothing has made me appreciate this place more than the amount of leaving it that I have done recently. We really have the best of most worlds here in Hangzhou: a major city coupled with the great outdoors and prominent reminders of ancient Chinese history and culture. This place feels like China without being dirty, in other words. It's pretty awesome.

Three Pools Mirroring the Moon

The first thing that Rachael and I managed to do (despite arriving at my apartment at 2:00 in the morning following a late night flight in from Xi'an) was get up early and find an entirely new pocket of the lake that I hadn't yet discovered. There is a bus directly outside my apartment building that drops across the street from the Breeze-ruffled Lotus at Quyuan Garden - which, naturally, has a Starbucks tucked into it. Beautiful on all accounts. This follows a path through the lotus garden over to Sudi - the Su Causeway, which is a pathway/bridge that cuts across the lake itself. After crossing over, we decided to board a boat that would take us to the island where the famous "Three Pools Mirroring the Moon" site can be found. Here, we took loads of China-esque photos to really represent the culture and sites that one would expect to find when visiting China: pagodas, gardens, lotus, the works. We then headed to lunch at a Hangzhou must: Grandma's Kitchen where my experience has helped me to be a little more independent in my food selections. Actually, Rachael's food selections made it one of the best Grandma's experiences I've had yet. Kudos.

That evening, we rented a two-person bike (I refused to do the backseat-style tandem bike, and opted instead for a side-by-side tandem...) and trekked about halfway around the lake on it. On this outing, we found the entrance to the Leifeng Xizhao - which has a long and interesting history, and is a visual icon of West Lake. We didn't ultimately go into the tower because we did have a bit of a time limit with our bike rental... and we had dinner plans for the evening. So, instead, we decided to meander around the Coi and turtle pond that we found right at the foot of the tower before pedaling back down to return our bike.

Lingyin Temple

The next morning, we arose relatively early to... explore the grocery store. Grocery stores seem to be a point of intrigue for folks from overseas. But, after stocking up on necessaries, we headed out on yet another walking adventure. This time, to Lingyin Temple.

This was officially my third visit to Lingyin. One would think that I'd have a pretty good lay of the area now. But, I've managed to have a completely unique experience every time I've gone up there. This time, Rachael and I had several bizarre encounters that turned out to be incredible experiences in their own rite. For one, there was some kind of ceremony going on at the main hall of the temple that came complete with Buddhist chants that could be heard throughout the area... making for a much more mystical experience. Then, Rachael and I trekked up through the temple area much further than I've ever gone before -- and up behind the temple is the actual monastery which leads through tea gardens and over to an incredible Lake viewing point. Otherwise, we trekked through caves, climbed rocks and found the backside of the wall engravings and statues. Pretty neat!

Having taken all of this in, Rachael and I trekked back over to my apartment for a bit of rest before heading out for a typical expat "Maya Night" to end the trip with a good farewell.

Shanghai

On Saturday, Rachael's final full day in China, we spent the afternoon and evening in Shanghai. I've really gotten to the point where I don't particularly care for Shanghai. It's nothing against anyone or anything there... so much as just that I don't find anything particularly interesting about the place. It has a gorgeous skyline and a booming nightlife, but nothing that would draw me to stay there for an extended period. So, we traveled in by bullet train to collect the appropriate Shanghai photos, and otherwise called it a wrap!

Today, Sunday, October 13, Rachael boarded her plane homeward bound, and I caught a squeak-by train that got me to work an eensy bit late making for a mad-dash day for both of us. But, both of us had an incredible experience here in China that has really made me appreciate this place on an entirely new level. This is exactly the sort of traveling around that I was really hoping to do while over here. So, it's fantastic that I have broken the seal on that sort of adventuring. Bring on the next year, China!

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Photos

West Lake
Near the Lotus garden

Comments

[dwhite]

aMAZING!!