http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Hangzhou en-us Sat, 26 Jul 2008 07:44:10 BST Sat, 26 Jul 2008 07:44:10 BST Today we caught an 18 seater bus to the Water Town about 100km northish from Hangzhou. It picked us up from the hotel at about 7am and on the way through the city Kwanrsquos father intercepted us on the side of a busy road to give us breakfast It was a bag of Baou no idea how to spell it but itrsquos pronounced bow and they were like soft doughy pork wontons and they were great. The trip to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-289981.html I've got to say that it's not easy to keep up with this blog especially when my typing skills are hopeless. Been doing a fair bit of walking and sightseeing around Hangzhou over the last 2 days and they say a photo speaks a thousand words so I thought I would just add a few photos and write about them. A few observations though Traffic can best be described as fluid motion if there is a gap tha http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-289227.html No breakfast again We really must get out of this habit Bed was very firm once again but not uncomfortable. Room was OK but aircon wasnrsquot working properly so no respite from the warmth and humidity not as bad as further south though. We are staying at lsquoHangzhou The New Hotelrsquo built 1913 next to the West lake. It is a very beautiful area with lotus gardens and many walkways a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-288695.html Skipped breakfast this morning had another sleep in. Fai picked us up at 9.30 to take us to the track where John was working on his bikes it was a practice day and he was getting in a few laps. The Chinese government has tightened up security and stopped issuing multiple entry visas due to the Olympic Games and problems with Tibet so John can only make it to the track once or twice a month. Joh http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-288470.html Twohour bus ride from Suzhou to Hanzhou through land that looks as if itrsquos been flooded recently but which in reality is ricepaddies with occasional farmers standing thigh deep in the water. Older buildings are soulless grey boxes with prison windows. The newlyemerging architecture is colourful with arched windows red tile roofs and small cornerpoints as an echo of ancient style. Som http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-285592.html Hangzhou was described by Marco Polo who allegedly visited the city in 1300 as lsquoThe City of Heavenrsquo this is something that we do not think would worthy the same title now but non the less Hangzhou has got some interesting places still woth visiting. The huge West Lake or Xi Hu is situated at the heart of Hangzhou and covers over three square miles it is surrounded by hills and high ri http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-284657.html 25 years. My how the time passes. Seems only yesterday that I choked on stale wedding cake amongst the trees of northern Michigan where we camped for our 1 year anniversary celebration. Just Matt my mom my dad and I enjoying the great outdoors. Now many years smiles miles and a few tears later here we are staying in luxury at the Shangri La hotel in Hangzhou China. A few million more http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-283269.html Dear Readers please note that we have struggled at times to keep up with our blog entries either due to unavailable or Chinese sloooooooooow internet access and our busy travel schedule. Please look back beyond the current date to be sure you catch up on anything we may have entered for an earlier date.Thanks for taking the time to read our news.Best regards The Chaosathome Blog Desk http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-283116.html After our fun few days in Shanghai we took the bus to Hangzhou the number 1 tourist city of China. Before I start I just want to say that we quickly noticed how loud Chinese people speak. Seriously one would think they're in a fight or something. Just sitting in this Internet room in which we had to give our passports interesting two guys are screaming at each other so we all turned aroun http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-279981.html Hangzhou is known for its fine quality silk and used to be the summer palace of various Rulers and big honchorsquos. So I decided to venture into the ldquoSilk Districtrdquo and buy something.So I went shopping today with Judith and a woman named Grace who was provided to us by Mr. Xu. He said that she would help us negotiate and bargain with the shop merchants.The procedure was for me to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-273641.html Next morning they picked me up promptly and Rose asked if I wanted to go anywhere else I said to the Linglin Palace Temple. Ok no problem. Simon invited his friend ldquoWardrdquo and wife and child Betty and the Beave I think and he drove us all there. Once again the traffic was terrible but we got there OK. Funny thing happened on the road to the temple people on the sidewalk would RU http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-272618.html My interpreter Judith had to be driven back to Shanghai with David so he could return to the US.I drove to Hangzhou from the Temple with Mr. Xu and his 17 year old son Everest. Mrs Xu drove the other Audi with the other guests including Jackie the tree Volunteer. Turns out He is in the same Yoga organization as mrs. Xu so she invited him.Many Chinese businessmen have two names one Chinese http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-272613.html We left Shanghai and went to a Buddhist Temple and monastary that is being built. 2 hours from Shanghai. Since the Communists are allowing some religion nowadays wealthy Chinese are donating money to build temples. This one is in the countryside. Mr. Xu and Leo both have donated money and have bought a dorm room to visit anytime they want. They both invited us to go to the temple for may 1st t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-271998.html Today was a Business day. Yeah I know Itrsquos Sunday.But do you think that stops anyone here from business and deals NopeToday I met with Mr. Zhou and his engineer and production manager. We discussed some business and we agreed on some changes to my original design adding some features. It was very productive. A good part is that they will have a working copy within five days Then I we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-270540.html Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang province in southeast China. It is known as one of the prettiest cities in China and also one of the most romantic. I found that that is true Hangzhou is gorgeous and I saw about 3 wedding caravans and 6 bridesgrooms walking around the city dressed for the wedding during my two day visit. I loved Hangzhou. Part of Hangzhou has the city feel because of the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-268581.html Well I finally had to go to the expert Jeff....who unwound my mistakes and got 'most of you' on the new blog. It is called CharM. If you did not get a blogless blog from me ie just a note saying you are on the list and you would like to be on the new blog list please give me a quick email and I'll add you. My new address for the few of you who don't have it is mills.charlenegmail.co http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-268281.html This weekend I went on a trip to Hangzhou which is about 1 or 2 hours south of Shanghai by train depending on which train you get. What was originally meant to be a group of four turned into a group of 11 teenagers all coming along too. On arrival we split into groups of four to taxi it to the hostel invitingly call 'Mingtown' that we had booked. Naturally we couldn't find it and ended up arr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-257193.html Hangzhou...and heaven http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-239433.html Well it has been about 3 months since I first arrive back here in China. I finally finished my University and achieved my goal of getting my ass back here so that I could travel and study Chinese. The studying part has been going well but the travel part has be much less than I expected. I wanted it so that on the weekends I could travel to strange places around the province at least and head m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-229650.html It probably isnrsquot a good idea to be behind in our blogs but at the moment I am trying to recall what we did 3 days ago a hard task when you are feeling fluey yes Iz and I have both come down with the dreaded wog in the last few days and arenrsquot feeling the besthellipbut here goes nothingThe 27th of September saw us partaking in a tea ceremony in a small village outside of the t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-207477.html The day kicked off before the cock crowed with a wakeup call at five in the morning. We had a plane to catch at 830 and had already had our bags collected last night at 1030. Naturally Chelle and I set our own alarms twenty minutes later and rushed breaky just in time to catch the bus.The plane flight was about two hours and passed over central China. It was a bit of an eye opener to fly up o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-207413.html HiI hope everyone had a great week I've had a less exciting week than my first but still a good time. I'm not sure if it's the foodtummy or if I'm just feeling like 4 weeks in China is PLENTY of time to visit but I've been feeling a bit burnt out recently. We meet up with our 9 new group members tonight and I think there's a lot more to see on the second half of the trip so I hope the fee http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-202307.html The start of Scenic China Tour with Christina. Shanghai to Hangzhou to Huangshan to Guilin to Yangshuo to Shanghai.We started out to Hangzhou on Sunday and took the train from Shanghai. The fast train only takes 1 hour 30 minutes departing from Shanghai South Station 44 rmb per person. I wish I took a photo of the train station. It's quite pretty and new.We got to Hangzhou and I guess a few t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-199895.html