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After our very eventful night, we got up around 7 to walk around the lake. Word on the street was that a family of black swans (Natalie Portman?!?) had moved in and Abby and I were out to spot them. It was rainy and gross but we ventured out. We turned a corner and an angry Chinese woman started yelling at us...not knowing what to do we turned around and walked around the other direction. Almost immediately we found the swans and crept up near them to take some pics. Mission accomplished.
We headed back in for breakfast, which surprise to no one, was pork filled. We managed to dodge most of it and grab some eggs, but I'm sure at some point pork was involved.
Our first stop for the day was a Green Tea Farm. Green Tea grows on a tiny bush, and you can only use the very tip of the branch for tea (boom, taught you something). Since it was raining we did a quick run through the fields then headed in to learn how its dried. Green tea is pretty unique in the fact that after its dried its ready to use, there isn't
any other process involved unlike black or oolang tea. We all sat around a long table and started our tea tasting. Immediately Diva Squad whipped out their bedazzled ipads and snapped some pics. After proclaiming they love chamomile, Dr Tea (our tea tour guide) shot them down immediately by referring to it as "herbs". We learned the difference in the grades of Green Tea and then tried a cup of what was obviously the best Green Tea I've ever had. Abby and I decided to take some fresh tea home with us after a quick demonstration of how it detoxifies the body, something we will need after this trip. Fun fact: when buying tea in the store, the only Green Tea from Hangzhou (like champagne from France) is known as Dragon-Well...anything else is a fake.
We had another family style meal of...drumroll....pork! Also tiny shrimp which only Abby and I were brave enough to try. After lunch we tried to use the bathroom...tried being the important word. A bunch of tiny angry Asian woman kept pushing us around...then when I finally laid claim to a hole someone busted in while I was trying to pee.
We headed back
to Shanghai for our final night before heading to Bejing.
Our first stop was to hit up the Pudong "Knock off" Market. Here you can buy all sorts of souvenirs. Abby and I jumped in haggling with the best of them. I wasn't sure if it was the thrill of my first purchase or the 2 Chinese grade red bulls I pounded 5 minutes earlier but my adrenaline was pumping. I got a Jimmy Choo purse and a mask to add to my collection. Abby picked up a gorgeous pearl necklace. Diva squad obviously hit this market hard, bringing back more bags than they could carry.
Next we hit up a Chinese Acrobat Show (think Cirque Solei). This was pretty amazing as they climbed all over each other doing flips I didn't even know were possible. Motorcycles, trapeezists, silk dancers, flips, you name it it was there. It was pretty amazing given the lights and the live music. Definitely worth the adventure, plus it'll give Abby and I some tricks to practice when we head back to the hotel room. I personally think I could master the spinning plates and hand stands.
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