hangzhoujournal

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Sun Oct 23.
Walked to the studio along the same route I traveled the day before . cool pleasant morning . at the same street corner where the woman did her sword the previous
morning a group of about 8 women performed a dance, whirling and swooping with scarves swirling around them - gracefully, delightfully, as harmonious and synchronized as migrating birds.
There, I meet sean, an American who has been traveling in asia for more than four years,
three of them in china. Sean is the director of the hang zhou program. A pleasant man, with a boyish grin we proceed to talk about our plans for the day and life in hang zhou where we will travel together shortly.
We make a brief stop on the road to hang zhou on the outskirts of shanghai. A different world from the city 15 minutes away. The roads are dusty and punctuated with pot holes, the traffic even more chaotic. Buildings seemed worn and poorly maintained. Smog hangs overhead like a grey flannel.
The mainroad to hang zhou is well paved for the most part with infrastructure development creating pockets of road work along the way. The traffic is heavy but flows smoothly. New housing developments bracket the highway - impressive 3 or 4 story
Townhouses in a variety of designs, along the entire 2 hour journey, signs of the rapid urbanization of China. Soon we arrive at hang zhou . it is easy to imagine that within the next 5 years or so shanghai/ hang zhou could become one extensive metropolis.
My first impressions of the city does not accord with earlier reports of “heaven on earth” . I might as well be in new york or shanghai. Maybe I need to be patient.
I am introduced to ------a teacher who is leaving for shanghai because of commitments there. She is obviously sad about her departure. I will occupy her apartment on the 12th floor of an apartment building, which she shared with another teacher who returned to shanghai one week earlier, at least temporarily.
Sean comes up to meet me from his apartment downstairs and we walk together to the studio on dong po lu . it is a short walk, 12 minutes, to the studio. I ponder the implications of passing 2 kfc stores and a McDonalds on our short walk on the future health of the Chinese. the studio is situated on the shi shi block of the city. Designer stores like ermenegildo zegna to Armani to Gucci are our neighbors.
We are situated on the 4th floor of a building which we share with a very upscale spa/ salon.
At the studio, a minimalist designed space with chartreuse walls, and sisal floor, I meet the administrative and service staff as well as john, another recently arrived teacher.
A bespectacled american, with a wide grin, we greet each other. The staff is comprised of all young women, very friendly and courteous to a tee.
Sean, john and I have dinner together across the street. The food is good and inexpensive. We share 6 vegetarian entrees at 96 yuan approximately us$12 total.
We walk home together and I repair to my apartment.
I am happy to be in a space of solitude and quiet for the first in a long time. It would not be long though before I begin to miss my partner back in new york.
Still jet lagged and weary I hit the sack, but not before a little lesson in Chinese from my very handy rough guide dictionary/ phrasebook.

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