Blogs from Hangzhou , China, Asia

DAY 3 cont - After arriving in Guilin late afternoon, we had another wonderful dinner followed by a wander around the local streets. Plenty of activity as there is a festival in full swing, with dancers and displays in the major park of Guilin. We found an Irish Pub in an alley, where you'll not be surprised to find, all the Aussies eventually accumulated. DAY 4 - A short coach trip to the Li River, boarding our cruise boat for a 4 hour trip to Yangshuo. Amazing scenery again as we wound our way through high peaks of limestone. Arriving in Yangshuo, we checked into our hotel and went for a casual stroll through the local streets. Plenty of colour, music and the smells of the local delicacies were abundant, some chilli, blue claw and noodles ... read more

On March 31st 2018 I decided it was finally time to expand my horizons of Suzhou but stay in China and explore my neighbouring cities after being here for well over two years so I decided to first hit up Hangzhou. As with most things in China, it did have a few little hiccups but what's a trip without a few hiccups? I didn't realise the popularity of Hangzhou on weekends so where I thought booking my fast train ticket on the Wednesday for my Saturday overnight stay was way more in advance than really needed, turns out this was extremely naïve of me. What could have been under a two hour train trip, ended up being a four hour slow train from Suzhou Main to Hangzhou main. But no worries, I am fairly good at ... read more

Well... everything was going so well- we've been travelling around Hangzhou, during the day and at night. But it all ended up with a hospital visit! (At this point I'm so thankful to have such amazing friends in China!) special mention to Sam who I dragged along for the experience! My ankle had been hurting over the last week or so but then one day it became so painful and swollen- it was time to take the dreaded trip to the hospital! Firstly we tried the on campus hospital however 5pm Friday is clocking off time- so any illnesses must wait until Monday morning...! Therefore plan B... find a hospital that allows international people and is open on the weekend... Luckily all it took was a 20 minute taxi ride! Upon arrival we realised it was ... read more

Well I arrived! Arriving in Beijing airport was incredibly surreal and didn't quite feel real however arriving in Hangzhou airport- now that was the strangest feeling! I expected to feel so excited or maybe even overwhelmed, nervous... but I felt numb! This all changed after being greeted by a familiar face! Huge mixture of emotions, plus the realisation, THIS IS HAPPENING! Now the challenges began: 1. Get to Zhejiang University. An hour long bus ride and 15 minute taxi ride later, CHECK! 2. Figure out where to register. After questioning several Chinese people and visiting two separate offices, in two different buildings. CHECK! 3. Locate the accommodation. After more questioning & wearily dragging suitcases around campus we located it... *queue heart and soul sinking into the ground.... CHECK! 4. Get to know accommodation. Every accommodat... read more

Hangzhou Tuesday - Setting off from Shanghai town center I got the metro to the main train station to make my way to Hangzhou 30 minutes to get there 20 minutes in a queue finally at the desk and managed to explain what I want perfect time to pay and then the girl behind the desk asks for my passport and it all falls apart as I have left it with the reception at the hostel for safekeeping what a dope! Never mind headed back to shanghai and went to see the Pearl instead I’ll try again tomorrow. Wednesday – not taking any risks today tickets have been booked online passport is in my bag and I’m out of the hostel by 6:15am nothing is stopping me today!! I get to the station pick up my ... read more