After our train ride in the comfort of first claas, the first thing to hit us when getting of the train was the humidity. We knew as we headed south it was going to get hotter and more humid but I wasn't expecting it to happen quite so rapidly! This heat didn't help when we were confronted with an hour and a half queue to get a taxi. Heavy bags, humid heat and long queue are not the best combination but the wait wasn't too bad and we finally made it to our hostel at half 10 at night.
Our stay at the '4 Eyes Backpackers Hostel' has been overall really positive, even if the nights have been puntuated with drunk Americans stumbling in in the early hours. It's a cute little wooden hostel up in the hills of Hangzhou. Hangzhou as a whole is very green, and our area was no exception. Surrounding us were green hills and tree lined avenues; a welcome change from the highrise apartments of Suzhou and Shanghai. Right next door, nestled amongst the trees, was a seemingly floating ship, like full on ship with sail and all, that functioned as bar/cafe for the hotel next door and a path of Gaudi-esque buildings led the way. All in all a very scenic area.
Over our few days in Hangzhou we soaked up it's charms and embracing the laid back pace of the city. Our friend Chris from Suzhou joined us for a couple days, testament to the thought that some goodbyes are very short lived.
Our first two days were accompanied by persistent rain, but that just added more drama to the scenery. Hangzhou is most famous for it's West Lake (西湖，Xihu) and it's this that draws in hoards of Chinese tourists every weekend, and I can completely see why.
The tourism of the city is focused around the city with good reason, there's a serene beauty in the lake and wandering around it was a joy in all weathers. We were lucky that, the day we decided to take a boat out to an island in the middle of the lake, the rain decided to give us a break and as evening fell to night and we watched the musical water show from the banks it was hard not to feel perfectly content.
Apart from West Lake, we also visited Jingci, the obligatory temple and the Leifeng Pagoda.
It's definitely true that once you've seen a few temples that they are essentially all very similar; but the intricacies of the carvings and looming majesty of some of the figure never fail to impress. In this particular temple we were lucky enough to see the monks who lived there performing some kind of rituals chanting ad readings of their scriptures. I'm sure they do this multipul times a day but i felt special to witness a small part of their spiritual life and the throbbing beat of the drums, bells and their voices created a hypnotic environment.
Leifeng Pagoda gave fantastic views over Hangzhou and was definitely worth the stairs. I think that it is the only Pagoda in China with the option of an escalator and a lift taking you top the top! You may be glad to know that we opted for the healthy option and took the steps, only succumbing to the allure of the lift on the way down.
We also stepped away from the calm of West Lake and spent some time exploring the pedestrian street of Qinghefang Jie (请河坊街). The first time in the night and pouring rain and soaking wet after getting confused and thinking we were lost, and the second time on a calm and sunny afternoon. Both times the vibe was different and the little side streets and stalls were packed with vendors selling all kinds of handicrafts.
My two favourite parts of the street were the street were the golden Buddah statue which stands at one end and the little food alley that stands at the other.
The Buddah in the statue is covered in tonnes of clambering children and it is, to me, just a really fun statue.
The food alley was just packed with all sorts of snacks and treats ready to be sampled, from sticky rice in pineapples to whole crabs deep fried on sticks. As a self-confessed glutton I always love food markets and this was no exception, I may have been too squeamish to try the duck heads (complete with bill) but the definitely didn't stop me goggling!
I really enjoyed our time in Hangzhou and the change in pace after the bustling and hectic lifestyle in Shanghai. Now we head down south on a 7 hour train to Xiamen (厦门) on the coast, the adventure continues!
Hangzhou: 8/10
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