DAY 5&6

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I've got to say that it's not easy to keep up with this blog, especially when my typing skills are hopeless. Been doing a fair bit of walking and sightseeing around Hangzhou over the last 2 days and they say a photo speaks a thousand words so I thought I would just add a few photos and write about them. A few observations though; Traffic can best be described as fluid motion, if there is a gap that is physically big enough for a bike/car/bus to fit into then you can expect that a bike/car/bus will flow into that gap. Lanes or direction of traffic are not important and a metre of clearance is a metre wasted! The same goes for pedestrians on the road - pedestrian crossing or not. Tourists - We have been in one of the biggest tourist areas in China. Toursts with cameras, matching caps and tour guides with micrphones. 80-90% of the people you see are tourists - and it's still hard to spot the westerners because they are almost all Asian. Which is one reason we (by that I mean Jac) attract so much attention. The Asians are fascinated by Jac's blonde hair, (and their probably not used to seeing bigger woman either - all the Asian women are so skinny!) especially the older ones. They turn around for a second look and I'm surprised no ones fallen off their bike yet! They have even gone as far as taking photos, they must think it's good luck. Smog - We have come to the conclusion that the lack of visibility is due to smog. The visibility gets better when it's raining a bit. There are a lot of people riding scooters and bikes, no surprise there, but there are also a lot of flash European cars like Audis, VWs and BMWs, often with chauffeurs. I guess they are tourists too.

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Photos

Happy Bhudda
Found this happy chap in a shop on Fanggu St. An old open market street

Fenggu St
Jac and Kwan (on the phone again!) in Fenggu St It may be old but that doesn't stop the golden arches!

Lake boat
Kwan on our small lake boat. Shortly after this the police boat came past telling all the smaller boats to get off the water due to the big rain coming!

Walkways on West lake
This was some of the rain.

Walkways on West lake
Thought I better add a picture or two of us - I think it's better without!

Lotus Blossom
Not many of these left, we should have come a monthe or two earlier. This ones for Annette.

Panorama of West lake - 1
This was the clearest day we've had yet. Hangzhou city in the background, lake in foreground.

Panorama of West lake - 2
Haven't got software to make proper panorama. You will have to use your imagination.

Panorama of West lake - 4
Spot the westerers!

Bigger Lake Boat
We were on another one like this to go to the island on the lake (in the rain)

'Three Pools Mirroring the Moon'
This is an island on the lake. They describe it as 'An island within a lake and a lake within an island. It was man-made a long time ago for one of their emperors.

Swastika
This symbol appears in various places. We even saw it on a girls school uniform in Hong Kong.

9 Corners Bridge
On the island again

Leifeng Pagoda
Pagoda at night. We went for a stroll to get and icecream.

Comments

[Trudy]

Blog
bruce you have to keep up your blog. We are all enjoying reading about your adventures. I have all the days printed and in a folder to keep .