The
first
time I saw West Lake, I promised myself I would drag Chris there one day. Almost three years later, I was able to make
good on that promise. We were a little
late to plan our Qingming vacation, so we decided hop on the bullet train to
spend Easter by West Lake and check out some of the Hangzhou sights mentioned
in my
Shanghai
Day by Day book.
Saturday
Many of my Chinese friends told me West Lake would be packed
during Qingming. They were correct.
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| I think everyone in Hangzhou decided to visit West Lake Saturday afternoon. Traffic around the lake was extremely congested. The masses didn't stop us from having a good time! |
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| Many ladies were wearing floral wreaths on their heads to celebrate the start of Spring. |
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| For 150 RMB, visitors took an hour long cruise on the lake. |
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| We took a ride in a larger boat to the island in the middle of the lake. |
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| We had a great time checking out the pagodas and ponds. |
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| The island was much more peaceful than the perimeter of the lake. |
Right before I took this picture, Kenny G started blaring
over the loudspeaker.
(When it’s time to
head home from a heavily populated event or a Metro car needs to be cleared
out, Chinese folks play “
Going
Home” by Kenny G.) Chris and I started to hustle across the island to
prevent getting stranded, but I needed to take one more picture.
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| Those rocks were beautiful but slippery. |
Right after I took this picture, I raced across the rocks and face planted in West Lake. Unfortunately, I twisted my ankle and
gave my camera battery a new home in the bottom of the lake. Fortunately, I was
able to get up without damaging my camera and breaking any bones. I also packed two spare camera batteries so I
could continue taking pictures. Needless
to say, my wet clothes and Chinese folks snickering put me in a pretty bad
mood. Looking back I'm sure my fall was a funny sight,
but my pride was bruised at the time. After the
drama, we decided to settle in for a quiet night at the hotel.
Sunday
After my spill into West Lake my ankle was still
throbbing. On Sunday, all I wanted to do
was go to mass and have a casual day of easy sightseeing. Despite the dreary weather, we had a nice
day!
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| There is only one Catholic Church in Hangzhou, and it was packed for Easter mass. |
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| This little guy was spreading the Easter spirit in the middle of the aisle. |
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| After mass, we headed to Laowailou restaurant for Easter lunch. |
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| Their house specialty, Claypot Chicken, was very yummy! The chefs wrapped the chicken in leaves, and packed it in clay. After being cooked in the ground, the clay is chipped off the chicken. |
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| After lunch, we headed to a calligraphy compound next to the restaurant. |
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| That evening, we headed to West Lake for a rainy production of Impression West Lake. Fortunately our seats were inside a boat on the side of the lake so we stayed nice and dry. |
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| The show was performed on boats and runways in West Lake. I was quite impressed with the acting, dancing and special effects. |
Monday
My ankle was feeling better, so we had a leisurely breakfast
then headed to the last place on my Hangzhou checklist, the Lingying Temple.
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| Rock carved statues lined the walkway to the temple. |
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| I especially liked this carving. |
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| Many visitors made offerings to their ancestors. |
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| I was impressed by the golden statues inside the temple. |
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| After the temple, we headed to Xihutiandi to get some lunch. These fried Cantonese noodles hit the spot. |
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| The dumpling soup at West Lake Garden restaurant was tasty. |
After a couple days of touring Hangzhou, we were ready to
train home.
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| I love traveling via bullet train. |
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| The seats are large, cheap, and comfy! |
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| For more suggestions on where to visit in Hangzhou, I highly recommend Frommer's Shanghai Day by Day. |
