Hangzhou

March 4 to 6 2011

On Thursday afternoon I bought three roundtrip, high-speed train tickets (in Chinese) and booked the last hostel room I could find for a weekend in Hangzhou. We were told the city of 8.1 million people is a great spot to spend a beautiful relaxing weekend.
The journey for me started on Friday at noon. I was giddy with excitement and after I grabbed my rucksack I practically sprinted for the metro stop to begin the journey. I met Yuri and our travel mate CJ at their dorm and then we headed to the southern Hongqiao station.
At Hongqiao we were surprised to find one of the biggest buildings ever constructed by man. With its stainless steel and big glass windows the architecture of this railway station is the pinnacle of modern. We ate dumplings and soup at a fast food place while we waited for our train to be announced. While in the waiting room a Chinese electrical engineer spoke to Yuri and I so he could practice his English.
Getting on the train it became apparent that I we were going to be riding a very fast Shinkansen style train. Yuri and CJ settled in and I walked around to snap some photos of the modern marvel. The train ride to Hangzhou was uneventful and I spent the time looking out at the villages we whizzed passed at 230kmh.
Arriving in Hangzhou we slowly became aware that the peaceful anti-city was a complete myth. We searched for a cab on the overwhelmingly busy streets outside the station but not a single (authorized) taxi would stop. We found the taxi line and we were faced with the choice of waiting 40 minutes for a legitimate cab or paying double and going with a pirate taxi. We opted for the prior.
Our hostel was tucked in a driveway and our driver had a very hard time finding the place. Soon we would find out that almost all cab drivers in Hangzhou are completely useless, especially when it comes to directions. Our room was cozy but small and expensive. The establishment was in a typical backpacker fashion.
As soon as we arrived Yuri befriended a blond haired Dutch girl named Sana and soon the four of us we off to find dinner around a night market. After our taxi got lost and left us in the wrong place, we ended finding a restaurant that served us typical Hangzhou cai (food). We had sweet and sour pork, tofu stir fry and a simple “farmers” soup. After dinner we walked around a pedestrian street that elaborately sold souvenirs and tourist traps. We at traditional Chinese candy and did a lot of people watching. When it was time to head back to the hostel we spent 45 minutes trying to find a cab (it seemed as if there were only three on duty at all times). We all retired very early.
The next day after an American breakfast at the hostel, the three of us wandered around West Lake—the man-made watershed that is the city’s main attraction. Our first stop was a Zen temple. It was Saturday morning and the place was very busy with people burning money for their ancestors and saying prayers in shrines. We walked through three colorful shrines. As we did so I looked at the architecture and artwork and Yuri bowed and prayed.
We continued walking this time through the lake’s walkway, which pretty much took us over the water. A long the way one could stop in and see some traditional looking architecture around some koi ponds but there were too many Chinese tourists spewing out of tour busses for it to be enjoyable. Massive globs of black-haired people traveled together, periodically stopped to take pictures of two fingers in the air and fake smiles. Most of the tour groups were retirees on their union funded end of life trip.
The walkway was one and a half miles long and when we reached the end we climbed up a mountain for another mile or two. We were aiming to find a Taoist temple and some rock caves. We never exactly found the temple but we were impressed by being able to walk into huge spaces carved into the mountainside. When we were leaving a party of chanting monks walked by with an entourage and landed at a colorful shrine inside a cave.
Outside of the caves we began descending down to the city. Along the way we walked through the forest and passed patches of tea leaves. At the parking lot we sought a taxi. We found one after a few minutes and told him that we wanted to go to a place called Grandma’s House for lunch. We gave him cross streets, an address and showed a map but the driver still had no idea where we were talking about. Unfortunately he continued driving and then started yelling at us. “Here we’re there” he said even though we were nowhere close and we all knew it. We left the cab and didn’t pay a dime (or a Mao).
After a long walk we found a shopping mall and climbed up to the eighth floor to a packed restaurant that served good food at a very cheap price. We spent a good hour and a half there and then we continued on our walking tour of the city. Yuri found a shoe market where she made some purchases and after that we walked around Hangzhou’s urban streets.
We walked for about two hours and finally decided to take a break sitting on a bench on a busy street across from the lake. The three of us began talking about how many stares we were getting. CJ (who is half black) said: “I get a lot of double takes from people.” Just as she said that an old lady walked past and turned around to give us a second glance!
We walked down the developed lake side for another few kilometers until we found ourselves on a bench, still very far away from the hostel. Hangzhou wasn’t a bad place, it had its scenic views and the comfortable, developed feel of any tourist local but in all it was too much. A crowd of Cantonese tourist swarmed the bench that we had been seeking refuge on and we all came to realize that there were simply too many tourists to find this lake enjoyable.
Nightfall came and after a rest we decided to head out to a street food market downtown. Along the way we walked next to the lake, which by now had been deserted. It was a beautiful sight to see Hangzhou’s ancient architecture highlighted by neon light and then reflected on the lake and the best part was that all was quiet.
Downtown we heard crappy hip-hop dance music and found a group of about 100 Chinese ladies dancing choreographed steps in a public park. Yuri was enthralled and could stop giggling at the sight. Eventually we found the street food alley and dined on cheap delicacies. Yuri and I shared a whole chicken raped in tea leaves and baked for an entire day (head and feet intact), four crabs on a stick (we had to just eat it the shells), fried dumplings and fried noodles wrapped in a tortilla like pancake. It was heavenly.
The next morning CJ had ventured off to find a catholic mass and when Yuri finally woke up we set out to find her. It was raining but Yuri and decided to walk the three miles or so anyway. We walked passed Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Rolls Royce car dealerships. The rain became too much and we hopped in a cab and the confused driver took us to a church.
We waited outside for a minute but the ushers wouldn’t let us stand in the rain, so they took us in and demanded that we take seats in the pews. As we got there they were handing out the sacrament in little plastic cups. I looked around and saw no crucifix but only a single red cross above the alter. The pastor (dressed in a suit) gave a fervent blessing and the prisoners responded in a random chorus of AMENs. Something was wrong, this church felt really funny. After the mass had ended we realized that the cabbie had taken us to the wrong church and we had just witnessed the end of a Baptist mass.
CJ appeared after we found the real catholic church a block away. We looked around the authentic chapel and then went to eat hot pot. After brunch we caught a cab, picked up our bags from the hostel and headed to the train station.
The train back to Shanghai was packed and we fought with a sea of people to get to our assigned seats. I booked us on the fastest train which meant that we rode on a German designed ICE-like bullet train. We cruised at 210mph for 40 minutes back to Shanghai. Off the train I was a little motion sick but thoroughly amazed by the rail adventure. China has the world’s most impressive high speed rail network today. This is in a country that started phasing out steam engines in 1980!
It took some time to get to my apartment on the metro but when I was home I was happy to be back. It is a great feeling to call a wonderful city like Shanghai my home.