Last day in Hangzhou

Today is our last day in Hangzhou. It’s such a beautiful city.
I really love the Chinese culture and I read in my traveller’s book that visiting a tea house should be a nice experience. The book recommended an authentic tea house on the Westlake.
So we took a taxi and drove about ten minutes to the tea house.
The taxi driver (who is also an English translator) asked us why we went to this tea house. In the mountains is a much more beautiful one, he stated. But we only have a few hours in Hangzhou left, before we take the plane to Guangzhou.

So we decided to go inside. There were a lot of people inside. But we were taken to the roof terrace, away from al the Chinese people. That was not what we intended. But the view is very nice. The waiter brought us the menu card. This was the moment to go somewhere else! One tea costs 16 euro! That was a bit to much for us, and the boys would rather have some beer. So we left.

After a stroll alongside the lake we ended up here:




After a drink we went back to the hotel to pack our belongings and get ready to go to the airport.

Next stop: Guangzhou!

ps. Hangzhou, you are beautiful...

2nd day in Hangzhou

Today we visited an island in the Westlake Lesser Yingzhou Isle (Three Pools Mirroring the Moon). The island was built in the early 1600s, this is the largest island on the lake. When there is a full moon, candles inside the pagodas are lit, and in the candle light it appears as though you see the moonlight (if you are romantic enough to see it), hence the name.

We took a (tourist) boat to the island.
The island was very beautiful, but it was a pity that the island was being renovated. So we could not see the whole island and its buildings.

It was very crowded, but what do you expect on a Sunday?


After visiting the island we went to the city centre of Hangzhou. We walked by the lake and we visited a temple. And strange enough it was very quiet in the temple.

Once we got outside again the liveliness returned. We walked through the park. And when we got out of the park we wanted to take a taxi back to the hotel. But that was not an easy task.

After walking quite a while Toine decided to hail some sort of a
Riksja. Because Niki’s feet were hurting.
A woman stopped and took Niki and Manon. Then a man stopped and Guy and I got in. But then there was a lot of fuss. And the man told Guy and I to get out. And the women drove of with Manon and Niki.

The four of us were still trying to get a taxi. Finally a taxi stopped but he didn’t want to take us, because we were in a one way street and he had to make a detour.

So we walked back to the lake. Earlier on the day we tried to make a trip with a rowing boat, but it was expensive.
We were desperate so we tried again. Toine was negotiating with one man, but his price was too high. When we walked off another man came after us and his price was much better, so we got in.


He didn’t bring us to the hotel as we agreed on, but he dropped us at the bridge in the middle of the lake. So we had to walk the last bit to our hotel.

After a drink in the bar and showering we had dinner in the restaurant of the hotel. It was really nice. The noodles were really good! We wanted to order the ‘Beggars Chicken’ a speciality of the region, but you had to order it two hours in advance.

It was a lovely day.

Welcome

Tomorrow I am going to China with the family of my boyfriend.

We will visit Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. And we will do this in 10 days!