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Published: February 13th 2012
A friend and I decided to go on a day trip to visit Hangzhou, a very pretty town on a very large lake (West Lake) about an hour by bullet train outside of Shanghai. While it was overall a good trip, there were definitely a few "bumps in the road" that we faced.
The “Bumpy” Ride Nori and I arrived at the train station bright and early to catch the 8 a.m. bullet train. As we headed to the train, we were feeling very proud of ourselves and our team work. We had successfully purchased the tickets through a combination of Nori's Mandarin (not much, but enough) and my iPhone. We were also proud of successfully navigating the train station through my ability to match the Chinese characters on our tickets to the information boards. We ended up on the right train, in the right car, and the right seats. We believed it was a very auspicious beginning to what was going to be very a good day. I had even checked the weather that morning and it was meant to be perfect - a high of 10°C, only a 20%!c(MISSING)hance of rain.
What we
failed to realize that none of this mattered if we purchased tickets to the wrong Hangzhou train station. When we arrived at Hangzhou South, we were a little confused. For a popular tourist destination, there was no English signage (as there usually is), and it seemed to be in a very industrial area. It was also raining. And cold. But we'll get to that later. Nori and I looked at one another and said, well where do we go? Both of us had neglected to actually do any research beyond how to get to Hangzhou (clearly a fail), looking at pretty pictures, and reading the basics. We had no map, no plan, and no way to communicate. Despite this, we figured if we asked a taxi to take us to the lake they would know what we meant. It worked, but what we didn't realize was that it would take 45 minutes and ¥55 to get there.
Maybe it was the length of the taxi ride or being in a different city, but it was definitely the most colourful taxi ride I have had so far. At one point we got in a lane change showdown with a large
semi, almost losing the front right of the car (and Nori). Fortunately at the last minute the taxi acquiesced, and the semi won the lane. A while later, there was a minor fender bender between the two cars directly in front of us. Of course, they had to block two lanes and get out of their cars to argue about where there was any actual damage to the BMW that had been bumped. A man from the side of the street got involved, and I kind of wish that it had occurred in India because then there would have been 50 people getting involved and it would have been so much more entertaining to watch. But we weren't, and our taxi driver finally got around them. He then went on a long rant about how stupid those people were, that they should have pulled over to the side of the road, and that they were being very over the top as there was no real damage. Of course, he said all of this in Chinese. But Nori and I both agreed that that is what he was telling us. (Sidebar: for some reason, although Nori is Japanese, all of the
West Lake 6
This is the general view we had of the pagodas and other sites that are usually stunning against the lake's landscape.Chinese think she is Chinese, so it leads to some amusing one-sided conversations until she can communicate that she does not speak Chinese).
So, after a long and sometimes stressful taxi ride, we arrived in the northern part of Hangzhou. We knew instantly we were there, because suddenly there were tourist info boxes, English signage, and lots of people with cameras. There were also very clear sings to another train station.
Weather.com You Failed Me! After picking up a free map, we headed to Starbucks (our original goal was a traditional tea house, but it was closed) and decided to get our bearings. The map we had is the greatest map ever. It seems that the tourism bureau had faced quite a bit of controversy in putting together the map. In the end, there were three categories of sightseeing destinations they selected:
1. Top Ten Scenes of the West Lake
2. New Top Ten Scenes of the West Lake
3. The Third Appraisal of the Top Ten Scenes of the West Lake
If anyone reads this blog in the future, while planning a trip to Hangzhou, please give me an update
on the tourist map. I want to know when the 4th appraisal occurs and what will be included in it. After making a plan (to walk around the lake and see the original top ten) we headed out. I remarked to Nori that Starbucks was selling umbrellas, and that they must be very expensive. Why would anyone buy an umbrella from them? I really need to learn to not say things like that out loud. About 10 minutes into our walk the skies opened up. The 20% chance of rain became a 100% chance of pouring rain, and I did not have my umbrella. After searching for an open store in vain, we found ourselves back at Starbucks. Where a purchased an umbrella for ¥128. If I had been in Shanghai, I would have paid ¥20. Now, I must admit it is a very nice umbrella and I do not regret purchasing it (the alternative was being freezing and wet, and we never did see another umbrella for sale until the end of the day). But when I ship my winter clothing home at the end of this month, the umbrella is going with it, as it is probably going
to be the most expensive thing I purchase this entire trip.
Fog, fog, and more fog The real problem with the weather was that with rain on a lake, comes fog on a lake. And as the lake, and its UNESCO World Heritage sites, were covered in fog, we missed seeing a lot. Don’t get me wrong, what we did see was absolutely awesome. But we know there was a lot we missed seeing, and that was a disappointment.
On the positive, fog can make for some very cool pictures. One of the reason Nori and I enjoy doing touristy things together is that we both love to take photos, and seem to geek out over the same things. Later in the afternoon, it finally stopped raining and we came across Fanghe Pavilion. It was a beautiful garden full of thick foliage and stone paths, and the rain had made all of the colours deeper and more vivid. Exploring the area really did make it all worth it. Even in the pouring rain, West Lake really is beautiful and while I would recommend trying to avoid the peak tourist season (as it was still busy
on a miserable day), I’m glad we went to see it.
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You should try again on a sunny day!
Maybe you should go back on a sunny day- if not this trip in the future!