For the weekend of October 1st, I went home to see the family in Shanghai and we took a train to Hangzhou, which has a beautiful lake where the emperor used to go chill out over the summer to get some fresh air and nature.
We left early Thursday morning and took the train to Hangzhou. The area around West Lake in Hangzhou is absolutely beautiful. I don't recommend going on a weekend as busy as National Day because it felt like we were at a zoo sometimes with so many people pushing around, but it's definitely worth at least a day trip from Shanghai (train ride ~1.5 hours).
John (a Canadian) and Matt (a Seattle-ite who wishes he was Canadian) came with me to Shanghai, though they stayed in the city for the entire weekend. The trip started out on a bad note because we missed our flight thanks to the crazy Shenzhen traffic, but thankfully we were able to rebok for a flight about an hour after we got to the airport.
John and Matt, fast asleep. It's too bad I don't have any more flattering pictures of them from the weekend...
We left early Thursday morning and took the train to Hangzhou. The area around West Lake in Hangzhou is absolutely beautiful. I don't recommend going on a weekend as busy as National Day because it felt like we were at a zoo sometimes with so many people pushing around, but it's definitely worth at least a day trip from Shanghai (train ride ~1.5 hours).
Lei Feng Ta entrance (above) and building (below) by night
We did some general walking around the first day and went to see Lei Feng Pagoda, a beautiful tower that they just renovated, but now seems very kitschy--the original structure was mostly destroyed and lays underground (they let you have a peek at it through protective glass), so most of this tower is completely new. The escalators that lead up to it and the super-modern ("su-mo"? you know, like po-mo for post-modern?) elevators make this an interesting study of old and new.
On day two we decided to go take a gander at some of the beautiful parks around and enjoy the lush green scenery...
I managed to snag a few pics that weren't filled with people :)
Hangzhou is also known for its Longjing tea. They come at all different price ranges (presumably because they're all different quality), so we decided to try some of the RMB50 and RMB100-per-cup tea. Most expensive but also the best tea I've ever had, though I don't know if the slight difference in taste and the fancier cup really justify paying double of an already expensive price tag.
"Cheap" tea in front, expensive tea in background
We also went to Lingyin Temple that day, which has lots of stone hills with Buddha relics engraved in them. People come here to pray for everything from health to wealth. Again, there were people everywhere so that kind of killed the scenery a bit, but it was beautiful nonetheless.
Buddha engravings
People. EVERYWHERE.
Big statue. For the sake of length I didn't include pictures of the others, but they were impressive.
Burning fire to help light the incense before prayer
So, lesson learned: Do not take vacations in China when half of its 1.5 billion people are vacationing too! Favorite part about the trip was definitely being able to spend some time with the fam again. Take a peek:
Married 21 years and going strong. This one makes me smile...don't they look happy?
The lake at dusk
My best girl. Muah!
It was Mid-Autumn festival on Sunday, so my mom sent me back to Hong Kong with some mooncake. YUM.
Delish. I love taking pictures of food.
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