We were fools for sure on April 1. Somehow we let our wonderful guide Kenny convince us to meet her in our hotel lobby at 6:20 am because we had to take 2 subway lines and then the 7:20 am bullet train to Hangzhou. We actually did it—and left the hotel at 6:20 am to grab a greasy croissant to take with us for breakfast en route. But, for the second time this week (last time was the Accela out of Union Station to NYC on Thursday March 26) the train left me in the station. Despite a hard fought race through all connections and zillions of Chinese commuters, we arrived at the modern and spotless Southern Shanghai railroad station just as our train was pulling out. That was the fool part of course, since all we did was get tickets for the 8:20 instead, and then came the belated moment when we first reflected on the need to pay way more attention to our daily schedule and ask questions of our guides. It was an easy train ride, but we ended up on a slower train and not a bullet.
Hangzhou is reputed to be one of the most beautiful cities in China. It is true based on what we have seen this far. Our first stop was the Linying Temple, which was packed with incense burning Buddhists because it was the 1st day of the month. The 1st and 15th are the big days for them, and Mao appears to have little impact on the continuity of religion and tradition for at least some portion of the Chinese. And any portion of the Chinese is a lot of people. The first part of the temple visit was a walk through some limestone caves which were carved everywhere with Buddah figures. It was cold and damp, and we were not all that enamored with the situation, but we did take some pictures. There was a place where the stone was polished from thousands of people touching it (including us) because your touch ensured future prosperity. Then we headed over to the main temple, which was enveloped in incense and occasionally sounded a lot like a Hari Krishna street band from the 60’s. It was filled with beautiful statues and tapestries of Buddha and related parties, none of which I have been able to keep straight. We reflected on how religions are more alike than different. Some of this one is pretty different though, like the food offerings which still go on. There was a wall we had to reach high and touch, but I can’t recall what that was for. Despite the throngs of people everywhere, the place was spotless. We saw a guy sweeping with a homemade broom, and were fascinated. (Later we saw that sight so often we hardly noticed.)
Kenny took us to Hong Ni for lunch. There was no menu—instead they had a room where everything on the menu was prepared or alive and waiting to be prepared, and you walked around and picked out what you wanted. Alex and Kenny picked out most of it because I was too busy taking pictures of everything. The only thing I wisely insisted on was the prawns. The meal was fantastic and cost something like $30 for the 3 of us to be stuffed to the gills. Other highlights were our first taste of durian (the puffs in yellow paper, blended with banana and fried), the cold-smoked fish strips and the traditional duck soup with fresh bamboo shoots.
After lunch it was time for a long walk along the lake and then a very touristy boat ride on the West Lake, the dominant geographical feature in beautiful Hangzhou. Hangzhou is itself a big city on the large manmade lake, plus the western part of the city is adjacent to a wooded park area with some small mountains. Many trees and flowers were in bloom. It was a peaceful and very refreshing change from densely packed, crazy Shanghai, and you quickly see why Hangzhou is such a popular weekend spot for city people... though, like everywhere else, there were lots of people!
Our last planned stop in Hangzou was the Leifeng Pagoda. This is one of the most legendary pagodas in China according to Kenny. But the one we saw has been entirely rebuilt in 2003 on top of the ruins of the prior version. The foundation and small parts of the walls of the prior pagoda have been preserved behind glass walls, and the new pagoda is superimposed on top. Every chance the Chinese get to throw money at something they do it, and for some unknown reason they were very enthusiastic about throwing money at the old pagoda foundation. So, we threw some money in there too. Maybe it means we will get a pagoda someday! We took an elevator to the top and then walked down, stopping at each floor for some tourist-oriented item like murals, views, and old stuff.
It turned out we had done the whole planned itinerary in record time, and so Kenny took us to a shopping street before we went to the train station for the trip back to Shanghai. It turned out to be another massive amount of total junk, aimed at Chinese tourists. We found nothing we wanted to buy, and thought about Tony refusing to walk another step in the market in Istanbul because there were really only 5 different shops endlessly repeating. Same sort of thing here. The only interesting shops sold the traditional Chinese medicine, which Kenny said she relies on unless she is really sick. The manager of the McDonalds got mad at Alex for taking a picture of the menu, we could not figure out why. Then we took the bullet train home, and I want to know why I can’t have a bullet train at home. It was fast and great.
We barely had time to change clothes, and it was time to meet our friend Steve in the lobby and go to dinner. He took us to the nearby South Beauty for a fantastic meal. It is infinitely better when someone who knows what they are doing does the ordering. We had an inside out fish, a fire-hot chicken dish, Steve’s favorite beef dish, some air-filled pumpkin dumplings, house made tofu which they concocted from liquid while we watched, and a wonderful Trimbach Gewürztraminer from Alsace. Then we went to the nearby aptly named Glamour Bar in a building on the Bund, which was a very chic and cool expat bar. Shanghai rocks, if only you can stay up for it.
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