Hangzhou

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Friday

I suspect, after today, we're Temple'd and Pagoda'd out!! First off we visited the Lingyin Temple - a collection of Buddhist buildings full of amazing statues where we were invited to burn josh-sticks (a kind offer that we declined for different reasons).

We then popped into a tea plantation that offered a fascinating insight into production and variety of green and black teas. We tasted some emperor (A1) green tea, watched a man drying tea by hand (very skilled job, apparently) and heard why tea bags contain low grade tea leaves. We easily resisted the temptation to buy some Emperor tea at £30 a tin!!

Lastly we visited the Six Harmonies Pagoda - the lack of other tourists added to the tranquility of the place. This is on the Qiantang River - this is the 3rd river in world to have a tidal bore. Of course, the Severn is one. Trivia Question: name the other? In fact, the Pagoda was believed to have mystical powers to control the bore.

Saturday

In the morning we went on a very leisurely boat ride around the West Lake in Hangzou before a strolling around Hangzou - highlight of which was popping into a Pharmacy, that dispensed many eastern remedies. Gosh, these weren't cheap - one mysterious item cost £3000 a go!! Instead we popped into a chopstick shop and made a purchase - so you've been warned!!

Back onto a coach and 3 hours later we arrived in Suzhou!!

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