Hangzhou Part 1 (7-25)

Wednesday was travel day—from Wenzhou to Hangzhou. It was a good day to be traveling, as it was raining lightly when I left the hotel and then rained heavily for a couple hours. When I arrived at the station and the security guard told me to “wait a minute,” while he got the English-speaking woman, I knew this was not good. The problem was that my train, on which I’d reserved a seat three weeks earlier, had been “stopped” that day. So I had to change my ticket and take another train. My new train left three hours later than the original one. I was happy it wasn’t longer.

This train trip took three and a half hours. The first part of the trip went along and through the mountains. There were many rice fields between the train tracks and the mountains.

Once in Hangzhou I noticed a sign to the subway and decided to give that a try, remembering the taxi driver in Xi’an who chatted about how I should have taken the metro because it is faster and cheaper. There was a map showing the route with English as well as Chinese. Using my hotel reservation printout, I found the district and selected what looked like a close stop. I did well. When I got off, there were signs to West Lake and then there was a sign to the street I needed. So off I went. Unfortunately, only the first sign to the street had English; so I had to ask for directions a few times. This happens often.

My hotel was close to West Lake, one of the main scenic areas in Hangzhou. After dinner, I walked along the lake for a while, enjoying the evening atmosphere.

I woke up Thursday morning feeling like I could easily overdo it that day and decided to take it easy. First, following my philosophy to plan to get out of town shortly after arriving so I don’t have to worry about it later, I went to the bus station to purchase my ticket to Huangshan. I probably could have gone to the station on Monday and gotten on a bus, but I didn’t want to repeat the Yandangshan experience of having to wait a few hours because I didn’t know what time the train left. Ticket in hand, when I exited the station, I saw a sign to Xixi Wetlands National Park. I had thought about going there but had decided not to because it’s far from the hotel and there are lots of things to do closer. But, there I was, only 1.5 km away from the park. And, since it was raining, it seemed appropriate to visit the wetlands. So I took a taxi there. The rain continued all day, mostly lightly, stopping briefly only a few times. I encountered more English at the park than I have in most places recently. Both young women who sold tickets explained them to me in detail well.

I ended out spending the whole day at the park because I enjoyed it and I didn’t feel like going elsewhere, taking it easy. The first part I walked through, an area full of the huge lotuses, water lilies, and other water plants, was one of my favorites. 

Next I walked through the old street on the way to the “storage battery operated boats” that transport people around the water. (The shuttle buses are also battery operated.) 

On the boat ride, there are four ports to stop at. The longest ride was the first one—half an hour between ports. It’s a peaceful, beautiful ride. 

At that stop, there are a lot of places to walk to, and I went to most of them. The area is beautiful and I was enjoying walking there. Two sites are a nunnery and a temple. The woman at the nunnery greeted me with hands palm to palm. There are a couple lovely, old houses that are now museums. 

The next port has the huge rubber duck that is the park’s mascot. The boat didn’t stop at the fourth port, which was OK, as I was ready to be done. 

Back at the starting point, I exited the area and went to the underwater viewing site I had tried to but couldn’t go to earlier because I hadn’t yet purchased a ticket. I was intrigued enough that I decided I wanted to see it. They’ve constructed Plexiglas tunnels in the water with pathways between them so you can look in to see the plants and fish. It wasn’t spectacular, but it was interesting. 

Then I was done with the park. When I got to the exit, I realized that it wasn’t a good place to get a taxi and ended out walking back to the bus station (1.5 km) to take the bus back to the hotel. I felt good that I knew what to do, as sometimes I’ve been in places that aren’t good to get a taxi and didn’t know what to do.

The park was a perfect way to spend a rainy day when I didn’t want to overdo it.

General observations: Young students seem surprised to see me—a foreigner. On the subway, a boy about ten years old was clearly surprised to see me. His eyes opened widely. He didn’t speak to me, but he did point me out to his friend. When he left, he waved. At the park a few children visibly noticed me. Two girls managed to say “Hi,” which is the greeting I get most in this part of the country. I asked one girl her name, thinking they might know that. They didn’t, but their mothers coached them and they repeated after their mothers. It was fun watching them.

The recording on the metro advises passengers to “please alight on the left side.”

Friday’s destination was China’s Grand Canal, which goes through Hangzhou. At 1100 miles long, it is the oldest and longest canal/man-made waterway in the world. Constructed mostly in the 6^th and 7^th centuries, it connected Beijing to Hangzhou, linking the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers. Now only the southern part is navigable. Last month it became a World Heritage Site. Since I had learned that it can be accessed by metro, I decided to have a look at it and possibly take a boat ride.

I got to the metro fairly easily. The only kink was that the signs in English stopped—again. There were signs pointing out the direction to the metro until the last intersection. Then the only signs were in Chinese. Fortunately, a cleaning woman was there and pointed the direction for me when I asked. I do find it frustrating when this happens. 

The metro stop for the canal is West Lake Cultural Square. It has a huge shopping center and a museum. It also has an old bridge over the canal. I crossed the bridge and joined the line for boats down the canal. Not sure where they were going, I decided to just get on with the line. When one boat arrived, a number of people got on, but the people around me stayed in line; so I did, too. There are modern boats and old-style, smaller boats. I was glad that the one for us was the latter. The trip took 40 minutes. 

The canal has a lot of barges carrying stones and such up and down, which reminded me of watching the barge traffic on the Mekong delta. 

We went under several bridges decorated with carvings. 

As we approached what turned out to be the stopping point, the canal is lined with traditional houses.

The boat’s destination was the 17^th century Gongchen Bridge, the highest and longest arched bridge in the area. 

After walking over the bridge, I discovered that the area is a tourist destination and has three museums and a center for demonstrating traditional arts. This was good news for me, as I like museums and arts. First I went to the demonstration center, which has sections demonstrating, among other crafts, pottery, purple clay, oil paper umbrellas, fans, and scissors. 

At the man making traditional scissors, I met two American women about my age who live on the other side of the bridge. They have both lived in Asia for about 30 years and are in the textile business. They have items made here and exported mostly to the U.S. They don’t know Chinese language but had a younger, possibly also American, woman with them who is fluent. They recommended the Swords, Knives, and Scissors Museum.

I started with the Fans Museum. There I learned that fans were first round and then folded. It’s uncertain whether they first started in Japan or China.

I decided that I needed to eat, but this was not a good place to be looking for food. I found one restaurant and went in. The menu presented was in Chinese with no pictures. There are several foods that I can order, but I drew a blank when I looked at the menu. The waiter suggested curry, and we were discussing that when an American man—the third or fourth American I saw that day, which is a record—came over and offered the assistance of his Chinese wife who is fluent in both English and Chinese. She suggested a noodles dish that they were having but said it’s very big. She got the waiters to agree to serve me half an order. Even so, it was a huge bowl and I ate only about a fourth of it.

Next I went to the Umbrellas museum. It features both oil paper umbrellas and silk umbrellas. There was a group of what looked like middle school students running around getting information to record on their brochures. 

Finally I went to the Swords, Knives, and Scissors Museum. Although it was interesting to see the history of swords and knives, it was my least favorite of the three.

Then it was time to head back. The boat that arrived was the modern, faster on, which was fine since I’d had the leisurely trip up the canal. The return took only 30 minutes. 

When I got off the metro, I decided to walk to Wushan Square, which I’d seen on the map and which has an ancient street in the area and which is in the direction I needed to go.  The area has an abundance of old style buildings. 

One area has what they call the beginning of modern buildings—in the early 20^th century—combining the new, European style with the traditional style. It was fun to walk around the area looking at the buildings and shops in them. Since it was evening, the area was getting crowded and became more crowded as I walked around. 

Vendors sell all kinds of souvenirs. On the way out I came across a plaza that was divided into three sections: two for line dancing and one for roller skating.

When I arrived back at the intersection with the hotel’s street, I turned left. After an appropriate time, I realized that I hadn’t come upon any of the landmarks I knew and realized that the intersection wasn’t where I thought it was. When I came to a park, I decided to enter it and walk back along the lake, joining the Chinese out for a walk. When I arrived at the hotel, I still had energy for the first time in a few days. It felt good not to be exhausted at the end of the day.