hey everyone. greetings from hangzhou! again. i’ve actually seen it this time. i think the last time i wrote was my first day. i didn’t do much that day since i was still a bit spaced out from the mountain climb. basically went out to get some food and hid inside the hostel.
the next day was sunday, and i went into hangzhou proper. the city is famous for it’s lake that is parallel to the city centre. it really is a beautiful place, but i didn’t see a huge amount that day. it was ridiculously hot. i spoke to my friend from hangzhou that i had met on a train previously, and he said it’s the hottest part of the year. i’m not surprised, i was overwhelmed. it’s the first time i’d really felt overpowered by the sun since thailand when i was getting accustomed to the climate.
i walked around the lake and went up the leifeng pagoda, which was an interesting building but for odd reasons. it wasn’t old, it had been recently built over the ruins of the original one. they had the ruins on the ground floor which were roofed by a glass floor. as you go up one floor you get into the actual pagoda, which had glass elevators and steel staircases running up the inside. it was a complete change from the pagoda i saw in nanjing which was all wood and stone. but the view from the top was good. i paid to use one of those binoculars you can use to see into the city, which always run out too soon and you find yourself wondering why you bothered. being a tourist i guess it’s manditory to use stuff like that.
afterwards i went into town to find a store to buy some shorts because my trousers felt like salopettes in the heat. but i couldn’t find any, and at about one thirty i had to concede defeat and go back to the hostel because i had a headache and was getting moody. it’s hard to enjoy somewhere when the environment is making you feel the opposite.
on monday i wore my swimming trunks and flip-flops instead. good call. i went to the silk museum which was really interesting. i knew that silk was one of the integral parts of chinese history,but not to that extent. the volunteer guide who was practising english explained anything that was not explained in the captions, but my plan to wander about slowly until the hottest part of the day was foiled, and i was back out into the sun by noon. i came back to the hostel and met an american called ben and a chinese guy frank. frank is eighteen and is travelling china on his own after the university entrance exam. i think it’s called gao kao, or something similar. he’s the youngest guy i’ve met on my travels, and it was strange meeting a chinese person who wasn’t daunted by the idea of travel at a young age. most of the students i’ve met are surprised that my parents let me go travelling at this age. good call though. i went with ben and frank to get some bicycles and we rode around the lake area for a few hours. the lake grounds are very pretty. if you find a spot on one of the bridges that go over the lily marshes, or by the water, you can catch a breeze and chill out for a good while. we found several places that would be worth staying all day, and it’s nice to get away from the sounds of the city. but you can almost always hear a faint rumble of traffic. saying that, hangzhou is the cleanest city i’ve been to out here. not necessarily with the litter, but the air is much cleaner. you don’t have to wake up with a sore throat or pick weird black stuff out of your nose.
that night we went to a bar to see how the people of hangzhou let loose. i’m not sure we went to the right place. we just agreed when the taxi driver suggested a cheap bar. realistically i think he was getting commission from them or his brother works there because it was four pound for a small bottle of beer. but the novelty and comic value was well worth that. in the centre was a rotating podium where different girls would get up and perform. ashley, an american girl who joined us described it as a strip club that had nothing to do with sex. the clientele were middle-aged men and a few clueless tourists. the girls working there would get up on stage and pretend to sing karaoke while the staff shot confetti cannons at them and rose balls descended from the ceiling. one girl came and sat next to ben, and instead of offering anything explicit she taught him how to play a dice game similar to yahtzee. they had rave whistles too. and free nibbles. and massages in the toilet, which they would do while you were in front of the urinal. but they gave us a free beer and waved us goodbye when we left. we didn’t go to another bar.
yesterday me and ben went to the lingyin temple scenic area and wandered around, and i tried to find a place to stay or camp out so that i could see sunrise. but i don’t think it’s going to happen. i was considering taking my sleeping bag to the top of the mountain and man-up for a few hours, but i’m not that worldly yet.
we also went to the night market with michael from hangzhou, and he helped me and ben haggle for a few things. much more successful this time. no repeat of my disgraceful attempt in bangkok this time. got some shorts and sandals and other things for good prices. i was tempted to buy the entire repetoir of 24, but the realised i’d seen season one through six already, and i want to have a social life when i get back.
today has been a quiet day really. went to the lake and chilled out for a while, finished the crime novel i was reading, wrote my journal, and became another attraction for the lake tour buses that make regular circuits of the lake. it will be odd coming back to the UK and being a standard, boring face like everyone else. but this time i will say hello to every chinese person i see to try and balance it out for both nations.
next stop is shanghai. i’m interested to see what my view is because half the people who have been hate it, and the other half love it. i’ll do the next post when i’m there. it will one of my final ones!
inabit! big love xx
Tags: Hangzou
