"Earth has Hangzhou . . ." (May 2017)
There is an ancient saying in China: "Heaven has its paradise; Earth has Hangzhou."
On April 28, we took the high-speed train to Hangzhou, a BEAUTIFUL city just southwest of Shanghai. I gotta tell you, we just keep finding one beautiful city after another as we travel around. Last fall, the international G20 summit was held here in Hangzhou. We were grateful for that at the time because China wanted clear skies to impress all the foreign visitors, so they shut down all the pollution-producing factories for the week, and we had clear air in Beijing for several days (can China host the summit every year???) We arrived in Hangzhou in the afternoon and had enough time before nightfall to walk through the beautiful Hupao Spring Park, home of the famous "Tiger Spring," where people from all over the area come to fill their water jugs (many for resale -- no tight business regulations here in China). Truly a beautiful walk -- crisp, clean air -- very refreshing evening! We went from the park to the old town shopping district, where we saw a very interesting McDonald's -- chicken (???) nuggets, anyone?
We spent the weekend with three other couples from the BYU China Teachers program, people we have traveled with along the Silk Road and again on the Yangtze River. We met up at the hotel as we arrived in Hangzhou from our different cities (Beijing, Nanjing, Tianjin, and Qingdao), and the next morning we all took a relaxing cruise around the West Lake, famous in Chinese literature and commonly associated with the Autumn Moon Festival (anyone read the Joy Luck Club?) It was a holiday weekend (May 1 -- Labor Day), so we were happy to be on the lake rather than fighting our way through the crowds on the shoreline. One of the fun sights along the way was the same image that appears on the back of the One Yuan note (by the time we leave China, I think we will have seen all the scenery depicted on the paper money):
This little guy was trying to catch some fish -- and he was successful! We left West Lake and drove to Suzhou, the "Venice of the East." We stopped at a little watertown called Xitang and rode through the canals (incidentally, this canal system from Hangzhou/Suzhou connects all the way to Beijing), where I found myself focusing less on the scenery and more on the people. Now -- the Chinese aren't usually concerned with minor things like safety, so we never saw a life vest while cruising around West Lake. However, in Xitang, where the canal was no more than 20 feet across, we were fitted (?) with some interesting life (?) jackets that not only didn't fasten properly, but also matched the curtains on the boat. Cruisin' in style!!
After a comfortable night's sleep at the Snowy Sea Lodge (can't explain that name), we started the next day with a bang (literally) -- our motor coach broke down in the middle of a Suzhou street. We waited along the side of the road for a while, hoping that the problem could be fixed quickly, but we eventually called some taxis and continued on our way to some private gardens we wanted to tour. Thank goodness it was quite early on a weekend morning, so traffic wasn't too heavy. The down time did, however, give me a chance to explore the streets of Suzhou a little bit, where I found this great garbage receptacle -- shame on you non-recyclers!
So--I'm deciding I really missed out by not being a Chinese official during the 16th century. Many of the officials, tired of public life, retired to a life of leisure in the Hangzhou/Suzhou area. They built homes that were surrounded by such gorgeous private gardens and gazebos that they would never have a need to leave. Sounds like a pretty good gig to me! We visited the Humble Administrator's Garden and the Lingering Garden, but there were many such gardens in Suzhou.
We caught a couple of traditional Chinese performances and had a great time exploring, in spite of the holiday crowds. As always, Brigg was quite a hit with the masses, especially this group of school children who wanted to practice their English with him! When he explained that he was a "laoshi" at "Beida," they all said, "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" and "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"!
Wish I had this plaque at my own home, but didn't know how I could take it down, hide it under my shirt, and sneak it out:
After another boat ride down the canals, we went to Tiger Hill, home of the famous "leaning pagoda," China's counterpart to the Leaning Tower of Pisa (where, yes, we DID actually take the obligatory cheesy photo to complement our similar photo in Pisa . . .) Legend has it that a white tiger appeared on the hill to guard it following the burial of He Lu, king of the Wu state thousands of years ago. Attempts to find this burial site have been thwarted because it seems to be under the foundations of the pagoda, which are already compromised -- hence the leaning. After the burial of the king, his son, successor to the throne, commanded the murder of around a thousand craftsmen who were involved in his father's burial in order to conceal the exact location of the grave. The hill also contains thousands of years' worth of poetry and calligraphy carved into the rocks. Very beautiful place!
As we walked from dinner back to the hotel that night (and by the way, I had the BEST chicken curry I have had anywhere -- an unexpected little delight in a country where I have really found very little food that I actually enjoy), the parking lot at the supermarket caught my eye - -a reminder that we are certainly not in the United States (this is only a small portion of the parking lot -- the motorbikes continued for another block -- you're right, Amy -- I DO need a wide angle lens). And finally, a shot of the train station in Shanghai (the most populated city in the world, according to some of the conflicting data -- competitors for the title include Tokyo, Delhi, Beijing, and Chongqing, depending on your source), from where we caught the high-speed train back to Beijing (and, yes, Brigg is down there somewhere....)
