We waved good-by to our Marriott hotel in Shanghai and headed to Hangzhou. The drive took over three hours and was uneventful! We stopped half way at a rest stop/truck st
op. Had a great time looking at all the snacks that were offered – sure glad we had packed our own.
Once we arrived in Hangzhou we headed to lunch at a cute local restaurant nestled in the mountains in the tea growing area. The rows and rows of tea plants were an amazing sight – with such precision the rows were planted along the road, up the mountain side and in large fields. After lunch, we toured the famous Longjing tea “showroom” and had a lesson on the difference in the quality of tea. It was a splendid sales pitch but we didn’t buy!
Finally, we went to West Lake – the reason we came to Hangzhou. Marco Polo declared it to be the world’s most splendid city when he passed through in the 13th century. Thank goodness, progress has occurred, but little has changed around the lake. Very little development has occurred and the area has been preserved. West Lake it considered to be China’s most revered body of water. The lake is surrounded by misty mountains and impressive pagodas. We took a boat ride around most of the lake, again posing for pictures for those from the “old country” who has never seen a white woman except on TV. I laughed – the title of a book from my childhood flashed in my mind -Stranger in a Strange Land. We did enjoy the walk we took around a small section of the lake – 
it would take eight hours to walk the whole lake. The lake is truly beautiful. We enjoyed benches along the way, arched bridges, wood bridges, bamboo hunts over the water, stone walk ways, restaurants built in the traditional style, and Kio ponds. It is no wonder it is a hot spot for Chinese high-level government officials.
op. Had a great time looking at all the snacks that were offered – sure glad we had packed our own.Once we arrived in Hangzhou we headed to lunch at a cute local restaurant nestled in the mountains in the tea growing area. The rows and rows of tea plants were an amazing sight – with such precision the rows were planted along the road, up the mountain side and in large fields. After lunch, we toured the famous Longjing tea “showroom” and had a lesson on the difference in the quality of tea. It was a splendid sales pitch but we didn’t buy!
Finally, we went to West Lake – the reason we came to Hangzhou. Marco Polo declared it to be the world’s most splendid city when he passed through in the 13th century. Thank goodness, progress has occurred, but little has changed around the lake. Very little development has occurred and the area has been preserved. West Lake it considered to be China’s most revered body of water. The lake is surrounded by misty mountains and impressive pagodas. We took a boat ride around most of the lake, again posing for pictures for those from the “old country” who has never seen a white woman except on TV. I laughed – the title of a book from my childhood flashed in my mind -Stranger in a Strange Land. We did enjoy the walk we took around a small section of the lake – 
it would take eight hours to walk the whole lake. The lake is truly beautiful. We enjoyed benches along the way, arched bridges, wood bridges, bamboo hunts over the water, stone walk ways, restaurants built in the traditional style, and Kio ponds. It is no wonder it is a hot spot for Chinese high-level government officials.We had some time to kill before dinner so we headed to Lily’s Foot Massage shop at the hotel. We tried to talk our tour guide into joining us – he declined and headed to read the paper. We had a great time! Reflexology is painful and wonderful.
Our new hotel was a 40 minute drive from the West Lake and dinner. We are definitely not at the Marriott but it is a nice hotel overlooking the river that runs through Hangzhou – too bad it is dark and we can’t see!
Just a few more pictures of West L
ake - it was beautiful!
ake - it was beautiful!
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