Category Archives: travel

Thursday, Hangzhou

Today is warmer but more hazy. There are lots of different works happening around the city including road works which delay the traffic. The G20 is happening later this year in this city and is contributing to the extra work going on in the city. The West Lake lies to the west of the city as the name suggests. Running north-south on the lake is the Su causeway which has 6 bridges. We got on a boat to do a circuit of the lake which looked very mystical due to the haze.

boat on West Lake

boat on West Lake

small temples in the water

small temples in the water

boat on West Lake

boat on West Lake

 

 

There are beautiful gardens around the lake and the blossums are just starting to come out which is very pretty. Again moon gateways featured, zig zag paths and pagodas.

moon gate

moon gate

willows in the gardens

willows in the gardens

beautiful blossums

beautiful blossums

 

Next stop was the Buddhist temple, caves and carved buddha statues in the rock wall.

buddahs carved n the wall

buddahs carved in the wall

happy buddha

happy buddha

Then on to a tea plantation and a green tea tasting.

tea plantation

tea plantation

 

After to a market and the tradition Chinese Medicine Centre where prescription-based herbalmedicine was being packaged.

Chinese traditional medicine centre

Chinese traditional medicine centre

ingredients for prescription

ingredients for prescription

[BTW we went back to the same restaurant as the night before which has traditionalChinese food. We floundered around with the menu and used our language book to help a bit. We wantedto order some chicken an we did get chicken… however, it was a it off-putting when the dish arrived with a whole small chicken including the head with eyes staring and beak open! We covered the head and ate the chicken meat which ws very tasty.]

 

Wednesday, on to Hangzhou

We travelled to Hangzhou by bullet train. The train station was again so busy but it isvery efficient, clean  and modern. We are staying at the Friendship Hotel. Our guide met us and then escorted us to arestaurant for traditionalChinese food. The food here is not so hot and spicy,more delicate and slightly sweet.

at the train station

at the train station in Shanghai

cake display at the hotel

cake display at the hotel

 

outside the hotel

outside the hotel

 

Tuesday, day trip to Suzhou

Today we went on a day trip by car to Suzhou. Suzhou is renowned for its gardens because the Grand Canal running north to south includes Suzhou and therefore water was a large feature and contributed to the gardens.

[ BTW – We showed our guide the menu photo and discovered that we had a frog meal the night before which accounts for the very small bones!! ]

We went to the quiet Lingering Garden and our guide explained the important features of a garden is rocks ,water, flowers and paths ( we think the last one is correct and there certainly are paths in the gardens so we think the fourth was paths!!!). The best rocks are single,large and with holes in them. Zig zag paths were made to make the visitor linger longer and enjoy the garden.Because of the rainy season, the walkways around  the buildings were roofed so that the garden could always be viewed even in the wet. There was a garden of beautiful bonsais – some very ancient and apparently the Chinese bonsais are large rather than small like Japanese bonsais. Different shaped windows and different shapes within the window frame gave the viewer a different view of the garden with each window. There were also moon doorways with a big circle like the moon.Our guide said that there are four moons on a fullmoon-the moon in the sky,the moon in the doorway,the moon reflection in the water and the moon in your heart.

Lingering garden

Lingering Garden

Lingering Garden

Lingering Garden

crane

crane on walkway

moongate

moon gateway

 

bonsai

bonsai

the Pan Gate

the Pan Gate

 

After the beautiful garden, we went to see the Pan Gate which was the entrance to the city of Suzhou.It was a complex structure bit like a moat with a large pit surrounded by tall walls and heavy gates to allow water in and out. Then it was on to the boat cruise on the GrandCanal – like Venice in China! We chugged along the canal and then did a tight 360 degrees and cameback again. Parts are quite narrow and we passed under a couple of bridges as well.

the Grand Canal

the Grand Canal

The Grand Canal

the Grand Canal

bridge on grand Canal

bridge on the Grand Canal in Suzhou

 

 

It was a long trip back and we were dropped off to ascend to the tallest building in Shanghai (currently anyway as the tallest isn’t finished yet). It is the Shanghai Financial Centre and it is 96 floors to the bottom section of the “bottle opener”then tothe 100 floor by another lift to get to the top. There were glass panels in the floor as well as just looking over the edge down to the ground below. Paul loved it-Iwas glad to get  back down to the ground (but did find it fascinating – and how are these skyscrapers built anyway???

from the 100th floor

from the 100th floor

 

We went to the same place for dinner as thenight before. The dishes we ordered were so hot with chilli!