Blogs from Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, Asia - page 24

I remember reading one of those listings that pop up on the Yahoo home page whenever I go to check emails, that named what some travel writers regarded as the ten most beautiful causeways in the world. Although I don’t remember what causeways were listed, I was kind of surprised to see that the Venetian causeway, not in Venice, Italy, but Miami, Florida was listed among them. The West Lake in Hang Zhou is traversed by three causeways - the Bai Causeway, the Su Causeway, and the Yanggong Causeway. If these spectacular land bridges were neither included nor ranked above the Venetian, somebody needs to revise that list already. Distinctive in their individuality as they are in their collective presence they are masterpieces of land art. Even on a misty day as today when visibility was ... read more

Today is my day off and the first chance to further explore the celebrated West Lake. Situated at the geographical western edge of the city, but at it’s commercial and hospitality epicenter it is ringed to the west and south by a range of green hills with names like “Flying clouds over Yuhuang Hill”, “Jade Emperor Hill” and “The hill flown from afar”. Mainly because of these fortuitous geographical features Hang Zhou was regarded by Marco Polo, the legendary Venetian traveler, as the most beautiful and majestic city in the world during his visit in the 13th century. He remarked that because of it’s stunning lake, many canals and with it’s “12,000 bridges, mostly of stone” it reminded him of his hometown. As for myself, when I first visited Venice in the latter part of ... read more

Being a foreigner in Hangzhou elicits a certain amount of staring. People will just look at me for a really long time. Sunday, I got a double dose as I carried a pumpkin down the street. It’s Halloween, of course and in the world of Chinese Copycat Commerce, the local Carrefour store has a big stack of pumpkins and squash. Not that anyone was buying them, though they were on sale, just in front of a display booth filled with rubber masks, scary hands and warty noses. The display was placed most prominently, right at the bottom of the entrance conveyor. But no one knew what to make of it and mostly they just looked on from a distance, like it was a museum display. I came to Carrefour to buy mask-making stuff. The women at ... read more

mon Oct 24 I had nine students in my first yoga class in China today. it is described as a flow class but the equence was a modified astanga first series. i do my best to transcend the language barrier by demonstrating as i speak, delivering instructions with confidence and maintaining a sensitivity to the needs of each student. i am able to deliver a few commands in chinese to the amusement of sean, the studio director, who is taking the class and who is almost fluent in the language. I see that it was challenging for the most part for most of the students but carry on as i know that challenges are nothing new to these people. i am also encouraged by the discipline of the predominantly female class, their focus, and the ... read more

I can’t remember the last time I had been invited to “climb a mountain” but I got one Wednesday. The women who manage the studio decided to get out of the office for a little quality time. Sean, my manager and co-teacher, gave me an inkling of what to expect: “I’ve never seen a mountain in China that didn’t have stairs to the top,” he said. Lynn picked up Sean, Shirley and I at 6am. Ten minutes later we’d packed Merry and Sunny into late-model Audi and after as short ride, arrived at Jade Emperor Mountain. The parking lot was crowded, which kind of goes without saying around here. Everything is crowded. But there is always one more space and as soon as we’d squeezed the car into a spot another co-worker arrived. Aida lived just ... read more