2/10/09, Hangzhou

It's the end of another nice relaxing day here, and I'm ready to just have a beer and coast on to Kunming. Definitely feeling like things are winding down. Here's my train route:
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And then my in-city route today:
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Another really easy train ride, direct hour long shuttle from Shanghai South railway station (only very recently rebuilt) to Hangzhou. I don't know if it's because I'm an American and they assume I want soft seat, or just that the routes and the times they want are all served by cushier, more expensive Z class trains, but here around Shanghai, I've been travelling really well. Walking around Hangzhou today reinforced for me how much more affluent and cosmopolitan the mid-southern regions are than the north. The odd thing is that stereotype has existed for centuries. It was the Han cultured heartland in Hangzhou and Nanjing versus the Manchu barbarian seat of power in Beijing.

Today was one of my easiest days, blisfully unplanned and at a lovely pace. I really didn't have any specific things I wanted to see in Hangzhou, just a general desire to see the famous city (considered by many expats and by Marco Polo to be the most beautiful city in China). I basically just took the tourist bus (I learned my lesson from yesterday and coughed up the extra yuan) to the south of Hangzhou's famed West Lake, where the was a pretty set of paths over goldfish filled lakes. Took a ferry from there to an island in the middle of the lake, and then from that island to the north of the lake, where there is a gorgeous, pleasant little park, and a famous willow lined pedestrian causeway dating back to the Song Dynasty. And that was more or less the bulk of my day, three hours or so, just walking around.

Before that, however, I had another encounter with typical Chinese everyday madness. The ticket office in Hangzhou was a mess, and I had to wait in line for about half an hour to book my return leg. I got there at 10:50, and at 11:10, I nervously noticed that the window I was in line for shut down for lunch at 11:30. Luckily, I was able to get my ticket, and then had to search for the buses near the crowded train station. After maybe fifteen minutes, I found the silliest looking buses I've ever seen, done up like old street cars. Tourist bus indeed.

Hangzhou is a lovely city, and I mean that with the specific weight and connotation of lovely. It's not overpoweringly beautiful, like, say, Taishan or the Great Wall, but it was just pleasant to walk around in, especially with sunny weather in the sixties today. It even smelled nice, which made me regret not visiting in the spring. Of course, keep in mind that I only saw a small part of Hangzhou, the more tourist friendly part, so I'm making my judgment on that, which would be like judging NYC on the basis of Central Park. I would like to spend more time there, however.

An odd thing about Hangzhou: they pump this really sappy, elevator type music through many of their parks, which was just silly. I burst out laughing sometimes, just because the music was too much.

I had another conversation in Mandarin in Hangzhou, prompted by a really fashionable looking guy who called me over. I think he might have called me over because I might have looked at his girl too long, which I actually didn't think I did, but I do tend to stare. He told me that my Mandarin must improve (duh), and then we discussed the relative merits of Hangzhou and Shanghai, and then Chinese and American girls. I told him I preferred American girls. He said, "But they're so big! You must like big butts!" It was a pleasant conversation.

After walking for a few hours, I took another tourist bus (which was so empty it might as well have been a taxi) to a teahouse I had read about in the New York Times. Hangzhou is famous for its tea, Longjing (dragon well) tea, a special green tea made with water from the uh, Longjing. This place was a bit of a tourist trap, and a bit expensive, but impressive nonetheless. It was old school, with waiters in Qing era costumes, a nice calm decor, and even free snacks on the table. The thing this place is known for is trick pouring. The waiters have special longstemmed teapots and do all of these elaborate trick pours, like behind the back and over the shoulder. It was pretty cool and I got a picture, although I felt like a super tourist. Tea actually seemed a bit weak to me, but hey, what do I know. I paid a ridiculous amount (so much that, although not an over the top expense, it was an absurd amount for what I got even in American dollars) for a little bit of Longjing tea. Ehh, I don't buy many souvenirs and I love tea; might as well put out for the best.

Which reminds me, I haven't been haggling much here, maybe not as much as I should. Mostly, it's because I don't buy much, and what I do buy is in places where haggling is not done (restaurants, places with visible price tags). I just feel odd about it, because more often than not I'm happy to pay full price, so it just feels like a weird, unpleasant little game. I feel like it's as if someone said that Americans often whip each other with wet towels, and then every tourist who came to America started whipping us randomly with wet towels. It may be a cultural practice, but why would you do it if you're an outsider and there's no reason to?

For dinner, I sampled a Hangzhou delicacy, Dongpo Pork, which is slabs of pork cooked in Shaoxing wine. Pretty good, rich, stewy tasting, slightly aromatic. In typical Chinese style, a slab of pork meant a slab of pork, from meat to fat to skin. I was counting the hairs on this sucker. As far as food goes, this hasn't been an insane trip, the way I thought it might be. I often feel like I get the wrong thing, although I get some great dishes, and I just don't feel like I can really judge how good something is. Real Chinese food is to American Chinese food what Italian food is to Red Italian: more varied, more subtly flavored, with some stuff you can't find in America and without some stuff you can find everywhere in America (no Crab Rangoon, thank you). Hopefully, when I'm going with people who know what they're doing in Kunming, I'll do better.

So, tomorrow is my last day travelling. I'm ok with that, and am ready to just settle down and get to work. It'll be relaxing, with me just staying in one city for once, sleeping in just a bit late, checking out some of Shanghai's art galleries, possibly the Lu Xun memorial, and then nighttime visits to Pudong and the Bund. Hell, I might even study (gasp!). I'll check in with you afterwards. Till tomorrow.