China National Tea Museum

Hangzhou

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June 13th 2008
Two-hour bus ride from Suzhou to Hanzhou through land that looks as if it’s been flooded recently, but which in reality is rice-paddies with occasional farmers standing thigh deep in the water. Older buildings are soul-less grey boxes with prison windows. The newly-emerging architecture is colourful, with arched windows, red tile roofs and small corner-points as an echo of ancient style. Some ha ... read more

Asia » China » Hangzhou

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For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. A... ... read more