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Published: October 24th 2011
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After the birthday celebrations on Tuesday, Datri and I were looking at the calendar, and noting that we had no other breaks in the schedule after our current week off, decided that we needed to get out of town again, even though we'd just recently went to Putuoshan. We had to be back for a dinner with the Producers and Managers on the 20th, so that meant only one night away, and preferably somewhere relatively easy to travel too. After a couple ideas, we decided on Hangzhou, a city that the company will actually visit later in the tour, but only for one day, and that likely means that I won't get to see any of it, and she won't get to see much. Thus, we'll visit now.
A few stops and two changes on the subway took us to the train station (a massive affair) and we bought our tickets and boarded the bullet train almost immediately. It was a fast, comfy ride that didn't feel nearly as fast as it was (according to the display in the car, our speed generally maxed out at around 300 kph/200 mph) and got us to our destination in around 45 minutes.
Once there, Datri leaned towards catching a cab, but I talked her into just walking for a bit in the general direction of the hotel she'd picked out. It wasn't too long a walk - a couple km I think, but the city was pretty noisy and crazy, which should come as no surprise by now. Our hotel was near the lake (the reason we came here) and finding it was easy. The room was swank, and the cost was around $75 split between the two of us, so not too bad a deal.
Aside from the travel there, I don't have too much to say about the city. The food wasn't particularly good - all my best meals have been in Shanghai, save one - but we also weren't particularly picky about where we went. We attempted one place mentioned in her guidebook, but it involved a sort of buffet style of lines, which becomes a whole different experience when you don't speak the language and are in a country that believes that pushing, shoving, and cutting in front of strangers are all legitimate forms of waiting your turn. Neither of us were in the mood to deal
with that (its ironic that neither of us enjoys making decisions about anything, especially food, when we're hungry), so we went to a pizza place instead. The business cards said they'd been in business since 1958, but they haven't learned much about making pizza in that time, unfortunately.
The lake, Xi Hu, is the reason people go there, and it made for a nice evening walk, then another nice nighttime walk. It's scenic, and, at least from appearance, the cleanest water I've seen since we got off the plane. There are hundreds, if not thousands of boats on which you can hire a ride, but given that you can also walk around the entire perimeter (not quickly - its a big lake), there's not really anything you can see from the water you can't see from a shore. Datri assumed I'd want to go out on the water, but I just felt like it would make me crave being able to paddle one of my own boats, so instead we walked.
As with Putuoshan, the crowds were pretty overwhelming during the afternoon, but by around 5pm or so, they had mostly cleared out and things were more sedate.
The never cleared out completely though, so even into the night, as we walked around the opposite direction, there were plenty of people around to disturb any stillness we were seeking. It was a much different experience than the serenity of the ocean in Putuoshan. There was also a bigger tourist element here than on the Buddhist island. Street vendors sold toys and souvenirs all along the streets and boardwalks, and I did break down and actually buy something - my first real purchase that wasn't a practical necessity. A woman was selling small kites... made of a some material I can't quite place, and reinforced by matchstick thick pieces of wood glued to them, they are around 8" - 10" wide and a bit less tall, and come with a small roll of string - perfect for flying in very small places. I bought a purple owl, and while I was a bit sketchy that I'd been taken ($4.50 worth) when I bought it, after opening the package and finding that it wasn't just paper, I was pleasantly surprised. I don't think I'm going to fly it until I get home... the thin wood is pretty fragile, so better
that it remain safely packaged until I arrive home, I think.
The next day we lounged around and ate a late breakfast, then walked back to the station, by the scenic route, and took the train back. That night we (the entire company) had a rather drunken dinner with the managers, after which I crashed early, since the tech team had to leave early to go to Xuzhou for the next show. I'll write about that soon (we just got back), but for now I'll just say that given what was coming, I'm glad I went away, even if it was just for basically one day.
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