Hangzhou part 2

On Sunday, we got up somewhat early (we are on vacation after all!) to head off and have a nice walk around the west lake in Hangzhou.

The area is very tourist friendly and features beautiful sights in every direction. There's gardens everywhere
The obvious attraction of the lake itself
The architecture is traditional style chinese
With some exceptions
Even the boats are scenic
Not to worry if you get hungry or thirsty along the way, there are plenty of options for a pit stop, from the more formal restaurants and tea houses
to friendly little stalls with drinks and snacks
A series of causeways have been built to better admire the beauty of the lake
And a bunch of scenic crossings
Rest areas are easily available
And there are beautifully kept gardens all around the lake
As well as this pond full of giant red fish
Some statues as well to commemorate important Chinese figures
And even a turtle lake
There is attention to detail everywhere with beautiful carvings
Overlooking the lake is this temple/observatory topped with a golden spire
Some more pictures of the lakeAnd this one at a nice garden
On the way back to downtown from the lake, we saw a few nice properties. It seemed to be no admittance so I assume they are either reserved for private functions or cottages for the ultra rich.

Hangzhou was definitively a bit more difficult to navigate than Shanghai with signs very often having no picture explanation or English subtext.
We took one last look at the lake before heading out for dinner
Dinner was difficult with the city being so busy with the tourists hanging around after the fireworks from last night. Our first choice restaurant made us wait for over half an hour until we gave up (we had a train to catch after all!) and found one tucked away in a more residential neighbourhood. It was much cheaper than our first choice anyways and most probably just as delicious

Shrimps with walnuts
Tender beef and vegetables
Delicious eggplant
And this cut up green veggie (bokchoy?)
On the way to the train station (on foot tonight!) we stumbled upon this night market offering anything from electronics to DVD/CDs, foods, clothing, underwear, handbags and watches.
We also saw that Shanghai doesn't have a monopoly on buildings with science fiction lights
At the train station, this little stall had everything for the weary traveller. Look at this double fried sandwich, looks delicious!

Hangzhou part 1

Going to Hangzhou for the weekend was a nice adventure. It would allow us to familiarize ourselves with an important mode of transportation in China (the train) before we leave on our trip towards Beijing once the work is complete here in Shanghai.

Shanghai has (at least) two train stations, so it was important to notice that our train for Hangzhou was leaving from the South Train Station.
Not knowing what the commute time would be or how the system worked, we aimed to be there about an hour ahead of time. We did really good on connecting subways and not getting lost so we got there with an hour and a half to waste looking around. There is a small mall attached to the station so it provided us with the needed entertainment. Once we “checked-in” we were left in a waiting room with about half a seat for every person present. Bags are really precious in China apparently with many people using a seat instead of the floor to rest their bags. This resulted in us waiting for about half an hour while standing up. Alex found an attendant that spoke Cantonese (a rare thing in Shanghai!) so he used the occasion to get more details about the possibilities for our future rail trips at the end of the week. Then our train arrived at the station:
We were riding in second class since first class was all booked up. Not quite as bad as it sounds actually, it's still much more roomy than an airplane. There's an interesting phenomenon on Chinese trains that is some people are standing the whole way. Our guess is as good as yours but I think it's counterfit tickets and Alex thinks it's overbooking with the sale of standing room only tickets.

The ride was actually pretty fun. We only had about 1 and a half hour of travel time and it allowed us to see some of the country side. The first thing that amazed me is that there is no real undeveloped land between Shanghai and Hangzhou. It's all either cities, towns or farming. The farmers don't seem to use any heavy equipment, I only saw one tractor and it looked like a relic.
There are some really cute house on the “country side” between Shanghai and Hangzhou. The travel book describes the province as one of the richest in China.
Going on in Hangzhou this particular weekend was a special expo and fireworks show, which turned out to be both a curse and a blessing. The area was overloaded with tourists. Cabs wouldn't even look at our 10 minute journey, holding out for longer and more rewarding fares. After about an hour of trying to negotiate a cab, I was able to convince Alex that an alternative mode of transportation was safe enough:
The rickshaw ride was actually quite a bit of fun. We saw this new city from a different angle
And quickly realised that our hotel wasn't really that far from the train station.

The first thing I noticed in Hangzhou is how much cleaner the air is. It felt like I had been holding my breath for the last two weeks by breathing in only short breaths in the fear that I would choke on the pollution. In Hangzhou, I rewarded myself with long deep breaths and it felt great!

Once we go settled in the hotel, it was time for a tasting of Hangzhou cuisine.
First impression of Hangzhou cuisine is that it is not as oily as Shanghai's and it felt a bit more simple but still fairly delicious.

The Chinese get very excited about their fireworks with a lot of competing for a good viewing position, starting early in the afternoon. Some of the more enterprising people even brought ladders to climb the trees. The authorities later forced everyone down from the trees, I wonder what happened to the ladders.
We didn't evaluate where the fireworks would come from so we didn't get a really good viewing position. The authorities were really helpful is moving people around to avoid a rampage once the show started. I didn't really understand what the uniformed officer was saying but the pointing at the trees and circling of the arms was enough to figure out that we were in a dead spot. We moved back a bit before the show started and got a pretty good view even if the trees were sometime in the way
Chinese fireworks are serious stuff. People around here really know how to put fire in the sky. Between the deafening bombs and the various colors (with an emphasis on red and yellow it seemed), the show lasted a good 45 minutes. Accustomed to much shorter shows, we thought that it was over at least 4 or 5 times before the actual ending. Locals started leaving after about 20 minutes, probably because they wanted to beat the traffic rather than because of boredom.

The scene in the streets after the fireworks was one that reminded me of Ottawa on Canada day but on a much grander scale.
The account of our visit around the lake on Sunday will be coming soon, stay tuned :)