Today was a travel day. After a final breakfast at the Peninsula (we’re all going to miss that), we all got on the bus, said goodbye to Tiger, and headed on a plane to Hangzhou. First was lunch, including begger’s chicken, west lake fish, and dong po rou. A tour of West Lake, including a ride on the lake helped everyone understand why this is considered one of the most beautiful of all of the cities of the world. The afternoon was free and everyone was feeling like they could spend a lot of days in Hangzhou and be pretty happy the whole time.
March 15, 2011 at 3:15 am |
In terms of expectations, Hangzhou was more what I thought China would look like than Beijing. The city is absolutely gorgeous and while it is still incredibly crowded, it was more of a blend between new, old and nature than Beijing had been. From our experience there, it seemed that Hangzhou is a very livable city by American standards and it’s no wonder why it’s such a popular vacation destination.
March 16, 2011 at 10:28 pm |
I loved Hangzhou and wished we could have spent at least one more night there. It was the picturesque vision of what I see when I think of China – the calm water of the lake, drooping willow trees, and the traditional wooden row boats. I found the contrast between the peacefulness of nature and the bustling city interesting. In comparison to the US, I felt Hangzhou could be thought of as the ‘Austin’ of China since they both incorporate nature and outdoors into city life.
March 19, 2011 at 3:19 pm |
I was pretty impressed by the leg room on the plane today. I assumed that the small spacing on the busses that we have had thus far into the trip as because Chinese are typically shorter than westerners, but the flight we took to Hangzhou definitely had more space than most of the domestic flights I have taken in the US.
March 21, 2011 at 7:06 am |
The lunch and the boat ride were both a great time! I also liked the acrabat show that was playing on the monitors on the plane. There was a woman balancing on a thick tightrope (or very pliable peice of wood) held by two men. They would heave the rope up and the woman would go flying and then do all manner of flips and twists before landing back on the rope. I liked this better than King of Queen’s reruns.
I was also struck by how crowded the lake was. When people in the US want a natural place to get away (like a lake) they tend to want it to be somewhat secluded. This kinda reminded me of the Coney Island pictures from 75 years ago where the beach is COMPLETELY packed with people. I guess different cultures and different times have different personal space requirements.
March 21, 2011 at 8:00 am |
One of my favorite experiences in this “little” city was going to the Hunan Fu traditional tea house. I went with Carolyn and Kim and we expected to just have a cup of tea and enjoy the view of the lake. Little did we know that we were going to get a full tea service, complete with around 30 little bowls of nuts, fruit, rolls and cakes. Kim ordered a tea that was from the area and before it was brewed it looked like a brown ball, and after it looked like a beautiful flower. Everything on the table, from basic nuts to exotic fruits, was beautiful in a very understated way, which I think is reflective of the traditional China beauty. Now, China is moving towards a more overstated image, focusing on flashy cars and expensive hand-bags. Also beautiful, but in a very different way.
March 21, 2011 at 8:02 am |
I was extremely impressed with the flight today; it was the exact opposite of what i was expecting from a Chinese airline. There was plenty of legroom, attentive flight attendants, a meal and no smoking. The boat cruise was a great way to experience West Lake away from the crowds of people. I still cannot believe that a tier 2 city such as Hangzhou is larger than most cities in the U.S.
March 21, 2011 at 11:50 am |
In terms of the architecture and landscaping Hangzhou is how I imagined most of China to look. Similar to the previous postings I was surprised at how crowded West Lake was. The best comparison to the states would be if people traveled to New York to visit Central Park for their wedding pictures. I’m obviously still having difficulty understanding what it is like to live in a country with more than a billion people.
March 21, 2011 at 2:05 pm |
West Lake was amazing. Being from Minnesota which is the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” I have to say that West Lake is one of the best. It is like Lake Minnetonka minus Big Island plus a lot of culture (Faloon and Laura – you guys know what I’m talking about). Aside from West Lake – got a foot massage and some lady cleaned my ears. 90 minutes = $20 = price so good you can’t afford not to.
March 21, 2011 at 2:06 pm |
I loved Hangzhou! It was breathtaking and quaint all at the same time. Our group decided to take a bike tour around the city and we stumbled upon a really beautiful lake and park area with a waterfall, windmills, flower gardens, and rock structures that were really serene. We also learned how trustworthy the Chinese can be when it comes to business deals, as we were able to negotiate our bike prices down to 1/3 of the deposit price and 1/2 of the riding price. If we hadn’t returned the bikes, the owners would have certainly received the short end of that deal! With a little help with directions from some local policemen, we were able to find our way back to the street corner where we rented the bikes and returned them safely. I also loved seeing all the gorgeous brides on the side of the lake taking wedding photos. If I go back to China, I’d love to spend more time in Hangzhou.
March 21, 2011 at 2:30 pm |
Hangzhou was great because we got to see a primarily Chinese tourist destination instead of the international tourist destinations of Beijing or Shanghai. Its gardens were beautiful, and the lunch we had at Lou Wai Lou was one of the best of the trip. It was also interesting to see so many brides taking pictures in white dresses by the lake…very interesting to see where Western culture has crossed over into Chinese culture. That night, we ordered hot pot at a Szechuan restaurant across from the hotel, and our nonverbal ordering skills paid off except for our interpretation of their hand signals…we ordered 18 more dumplings at the end instead of 6.
March 21, 2011 at 5:23 pm |
Like everyone else, Hangzhou is what I expected that China would look like. It was beautiful and so green. For me it was really interesting that the lake was so serene and peaceful and that our first experience of it was stuck in traffic in a bus with all of these people walking around. To me it really brought to reality China’s large population, especially in a scene that represented my idea of what China must have looked like in the past. The lake looked like a great place to read a book of just sit and think but it was hard to find an area that was not busy with a bunch of people. Although I am sure that it is all that many of these people know, it must be so difficult to not have a bit of time alone. Even living in Chicago, there are a lot of people, but I was always able to find somewhere to be by myself with my thoughts, something that I could not live without.
March 21, 2011 at 7:00 pm |
Hangzhou was a nice change from the frenetic pace of Beijing. Given my love of the outdoors it was also refreshing to see some nature and escape from the concrete jungle.
It was also the first time we were able to track down some Szechuan cuisine which ended up being quite tasty. It was also the first name many of our classmates were exposed to the Party’s drink of choice – Bijo. Dinner eventually led us to our first karaoke night where Ouyang showed us what it was all about.
March 21, 2011 at 7:24 pm |
Hangzhou is a quaint city in comparison to Beijing. It still has 10M people, but it does have trees, green, and birds. I didn’t realize I would take those items for granted.
We had a great lunch (I can’t remember the restaurant name) and took a boat tour of the lake. Its quite a sight and what was interesting was to see how many wedding couple were taking their wedding photo shots. We must have seen between 5 – 7 couples in a span of a hour.
March 22, 2011 at 10:56 am |
I was really excited to head to Hangzhou today and it lived up to my expectations, it’s a beautiful city. I only wish we had more time to spend there. In the afternoon a few of us went for a much needed foot massage. The masseurs spoke no English and I’m pretty sure they were making fun of us, but I enjoyed trying to communicate what we wanted. Dinner on the other hand was a little more complicated. Our waiter seemed to have little patience with our communication barrier and we ended up with a pretty bad meal. It was a learning experience.
March 22, 2011 at 12:40 pm |
Hangzhou was definitely more of what I expected from China. It was a great change of pace to see so much green and nature (as opposed to Beijing where there was virtually none). After the scenic boat ride, some of us headed across the street for massages. It was the best 150 Yuan i’ve ever spent on a foot massage. That night some of us actually headed to a local karaoke bar with Ouyang – one of the highlights of the trip getting to hear the awesome musical stylings of our TA!
March 22, 2011 at 1:12 pm |
Hangzhou was a nice transition between the wild pace of the metropolises of Beijing and Shanghai. Tiger had mentioned in Beijing that it was the most expensive city in China, just ahead of Shanghai. Thus, I was interested to see what distinguished it from other cities. The lake was pretty and the town was crowded with wedding parties taking photos in the most scenic locations. It made me think back to Austin, where I have lived for the past seven years, yet do not appreciate our lake(s) like these people appreciated West Lake. This difference may be attributable to the concrete nature of China’s larger cities, while here we have metroplexes with more diverse topography outside of man-made structures.
March 22, 2011 at 2:59 pm |
Hangzhou was extremely scenic and a great change of pace from the chaos of Beijing. Really enjoyed the city and thought our tour guide FU was much better than Tiger. My first experience with HotPot was I think for the most part a success. I lost a few pieces of meat in the pot but think I did ok. Hangzhou was a short trip – maybe too short but West Lake and surrounding areas seem beautiful.
March 22, 2011 at 3:39 pm |
The West Lake area of Hangzhou was beautiful and full of flowers, open space and trees. It was a nice change of pace since any form of nature has actually been outlawed in Beijing. Hangzhou is honestly one of the most beautiful cities that I’ve seen anywhere in the world. It was also refreshing to see that Chinese men hate wedding pictures as much as American men do.
After lunch, Laura, Alice, Megan and I rented bikes so that we could ride around the lake. Unfortunately, the city bikes were closed so we had to negotiate with a street vendor for a two hour rental. We got a great price and the ability to choose between a plethora of colorful bikes. I had the tough choice of choosing between pink and black. Apparently the girls thought we were going on a peaceful and safe ride around the lake. I guess we had a miscommunication (another Lescant moment), but I took off like we were riding in one of the mountain stages of the Tour de France. I loved aggressively riding bikes in the city and weaving in and out of traffic. At one point, I asked Megan to have the phrase “he’s bleeding from his head” translated into Chinese on her phone just in case I was struck by a car (sorry, mom). Riding bikes was actually one of the highlights of the trip we were passing the locals and ran into a beautiful park with a water fall and pond that was reflecting the surrounding willow trees.
March 22, 2011 at 4:38 pm |
I loved seeing Hangzhou also and was really glad that we got to visit such a beautiful Chinese city. It was a perfect break from Beijing and I really enjoyed the boat ride and walking around the lake. I also thought the tea ceremony was one of my favorite cultural experiences in China! It was so relaxing to sit by the lake and try the many different teas, fruits, and snacks that they offered. It was also one of the only meals in China where they didn’t rush you or constantly clear your plates–it was more of a relaxed experience and you could sit there as long as you wanted.
March 22, 2011 at 5:27 pm |
Hangzhou was beautiful! This is what I pictured China to be like. I am really glad we had at least one day in Hangzhou to see something besides a major city and see some Chinese style gardens. The boat tour was fun but I noticed that there seemed to be a mist around the lake but I am not sure if it was polution or mist/fog. It is such a shame how horrible the air quality is in China in general. The fact that smoking is allowed inside does not help. I actually had to change restaurants tonight because I could not breathe in the first one I went to due to smoke.
Earlier in the evening, I treated myself to a foot massage. It really was painful at times but my feet felt amazing after. I got a foot massage at the same time as Casey and the ladies giving us the massages were literally having a one way conversation with us in Chinese! It was pretty funny for us since we had nothing to say. 90 minutes for about $25, what a deal!
March 22, 2011 at 5:33 pm |
I understand why so many Chinese spend their honeymoons in Hangzhou! The lake and soft willow trees were so beautiful. I really enjoyed the boat ride on the lake and getting to see the city from a different perspective. Laura, Carolyn and I went to a tea house which was also one of my favorite experiences in China. We got a seat by the window overlooking the lake and got to watch the sun set while we drank our tea. I had a local flower tea which bloomed as it steeped. It was very pretty although it did not taste like very much.
That night we had dinner at one of the most popular restaurants in the city. The food was great but I was amazed by how many people were smoking in the restaurant. I am very surprised that it is acceptable to smoke anywhere and everywhere but I suppose it was like that in the US not that long ago.
March 22, 2011 at 8:48 pm |
We also saw LOTS of wedding pictures being taken throughout the scenic city. It seemed like most everywhere we went we saw Chinese brides and grooms taking photographs. Though we didn’t talk to any of them, I enjoyed seeing how happy they looked. Some things are easily communicated non verbally!
We got our massages at the same place as Kyle and we didn’t get our ears cleaned! I would have been pretty creeped out if they had gone in for that though since our masseuses did not speak English. Me, julie, Alanna and Natalie were all in the same room and we constantly heard a bunch of Chinese words we didn’t understand and then “American” randomly interjected. We tried to tell them we were from Texas but not sure if it worked. I was wearing my Texas MBA tshirt and tried to convey it through that. But they gave a darned good foot massage! My legs were still somewhat sore from the Great Wall hike and it was a perfect (and memorable) relief!
March 22, 2011 at 9:49 pm |
The boat ride in Hangzhou was really fun and the Westlake area is what I envisioned China to look like. The scenery around the lake was phenomenal and I wish we could have had more time in Hangzhou because some of buildings and temples around the lake would have been really cool to see up close. After the boat ride, I took advantage of the relaxing atmosphere of Hangzhou and the spa facilities at the Windham. After regaining steam, we went to dinner at a Szechuan place that Ben recommended that was followed by Karaoke.
March 22, 2011 at 10:01 pm |
I want to start by noting how easy it was to fly between cities in China. Perhaps that is because we had Orlando and Ouyang but it seemed really straight forward and efficient. Next, let’s talk about F-U, or Big Ben, he understood American humor and provided excellent social and historical context to the sights and ways of life in Hangzou.
The “original” West Lake was beautiful as it was surrounded by traditional Chinese architecture with a roaring skyline in the background. The lunch was delicious and the boat cruise very relaxing. I enjoyed witnessing Asian tourists and the numerous weddings along the lake and during our walk. It was here where we saw our first Starbucks. I liked the bike rental system here for locals as a cost-efficient, green method of transportation and fun for Hangzou’s tourists and citizens. It would be more challenging to start the bike rental system in cities like Beijing and Shanghai, but Tianjin should take note.
I had my first massage across from the hotel…as noted above in Ashley’s comment…it was fabulous but I could not help from laughing as it tickled…which in turn caused all four massueses to laugh at us. The language barrier was evident but we had fun going through my Lonely Planet and translating words and sentences with them.
March 22, 2011 at 10:43 pm |
Going to Hangzhou was a relief after a week in bejing. It was beautiful and the air was much clearer. I thought it was interesting how many brides were taking pictures in what seemed like such busy areas. Overall I was impressed by how international the city was. So many people spoke English event out at night.
March 23, 2011 at 12:24 am |
Hangzhou is what I probably would have imagined China looked like when I was a little kid. The traditional chinese pagoda styled buildings, the weeping willows, and mistiness all seem like classic chinese art. Additionally, Hangzhou was my introduction to delicious chinese hot pot (which may have potentially made me sick the next day but was totally worth it). We dipped thin cuts of meat and an assortment of green vegetables into boiling vats of savory and spicy broth.
March 23, 2011 at 5:53 am |
Hangzhou was one of my favorite visits on the whole trip. I felt like had I been visiting China on my own I would not have stopped here so I was grateful that we did. One of the alums we ended up meeting in Shanghai had honeymooned there and most Chinese people we spoke with said they love going to Hangzhou for the weekend. I can see why – the city was beautiful. We rode bikes around the lake and it was fun to see the sights and learn ‘bike etiquette’ in China – we were nervous at first! I also felt like with the University in Hangzhou the city had a uni-vibe much like Austin does with UT being in town. Most people we ran into spoke English and the city felt young and vibrant. It was a fun visit and interesting comparison.
March 23, 2011 at 8:28 am |
Hangzhou was just beautiful. I really wish we had more time in the city but I’m grateful we were able to spend one night there. I thought it was important for us to see since it was so much different than the other cities we visited. I also got my first taste of how serious the Chinese take there Karaoke
Something I don’t think was talked about but I found interesting. How easy the airport process was to fly to Hangzhou. They have SO much more security personnel than in the US. Rather than having one big line funnel into one or two x-rays, they have maybe 10 lines each with their own staff moving people through. The process is so much quicker than in the US.
March 23, 2011 at 8:43 am |
Hangzhou was my favorite city to visit and I’m glad this year’s trip got to spend at least a night here, but I could have stayed longer. The boat cruise on the West Lake was one of my favorite activities while in China and the views were breathtaking. The city was more of what I was expecting from China with the traditional architecture and the historical pagodas. The city was very green and I could see why it is seen as one of the most beautiful cities in China with the natural beauty of its lake and its hills.
I also loved hearing about the public bicycle system they had set up and knew immediately that I wanted to ride bikes around the city. Finding a bike was a bit tricky, but luckily and to my surprise most people spoke English. Riding bikes around the city was a great way to see as much as the city as we could and I enjoyed the views the whole time. I was even asked for directions because I was mistaken for a local!
March 23, 2011 at 9:46 am |
It was lovely to see green again! The West Lake area was beautiful and I can certainly understand why there were so many people taking wedding/bridal photos here. I also found the “mansions” of Hangzhou very interesting. They each looked about four stories and our tour guide told us they were each occupied by multiple generations of one family. There were so many of them! We had read about this type of living before the trip so it was fun to see it in reality.
March 23, 2011 at 1:42 pm |
Hangzhou was awesome. It was definitely an escape from the concrete buildings and hustle & bustle of Beijing. I can see why Chinese people flock there for vacation. The city is filled with green trees and plants and just has a much more pleasant and relaxing feel to it. The Westlake area is gorgeous and it is no wonder that we saw about 15 brides and grooms taking their wedding photos along the edges of the lake. The boat ride boasted a great view of the downtown area of Hangzhou and the landscapes surrounding the lake. Not to mention, our lunch at the Westlake restaurant was one of the best of the trip with a delicious pork belly (x3) and the “Poor Man’s Chicken” that were definite highlights.
Followed up by a 90 minute foot massage for only $15 and an amazing Karaoke experience with the angelic voice of Chuan Ouyang and the eloquent lyrics of Hollaback girl sang by Kyle Beste, this was one of my favorite days of the trip.
March 23, 2011 at 3:10 pm |
Hangzhou was a a beautiful city with 40% trees and nature. A strong contrast to Beijing. It was very soothing to take a boat ride on the lake and see the scenery. The traffic was also much more sparce than in other cities we visited in China. The pace of life seemed slower and more relaxed. Hangzhou is one of the wealthiest cities in China, so I guess it is no surprise that the way of life is different. I also got a foot massage and an ear cleaning (yes an ear cleaning). It was actually quite painful and the first foot massage I had ever gotten. The people in the city were very pleasant and did not seem to have the same fast moving mentality that people had in Beijing.