Since we're home for the holidays, we decided to take short trips to surrounding towns. Our first stop was Hangzhou. It is considered to be the backyard of Shanghai. It's got lots of trees, lakes and clean air.....things that Shanghai doesn't have. In fact, Hangzhou reminded us alot of Connecticut. A high speed train took us from Shanghai to Hangzhou in 1 hour and 18 minutes. We're staying in a five star hotel close to West Lake.
Hangzhou was once the capital of China during the Southern Song Dynasty (AD 1127-1279) and is known for West Lake. It is surrounded on three sides by hills, temples, pavillions, gardens and arched bridges. The lake runs about 3 miles across and 9 miles around, a truly beautiful place. We took a boat ride across the lake. I'm exaggerating when I say boat. It was more like a sampan with a single paddle. The man paddling the boat had as many teeth as paddles and he kept telling us how fat we all were and that he should charge us more money. I wanted to push him into the water. Of course, he thought this was great fun....top that with him singing "Happy Birthday to You" in Chinglish, it was an interesting ride.
After dinner, we wandered around the lake and found the musical fountain. It was great to listen to music and watch the water dance to it. It was very nice way to end the day.
Since we're home for the holidays, we decided to take short trips to surrounding towns. Our first stop was Hangzhou. It is considered to be the backyard of Shanghai. It's got lots of trees, lakes and clean air.....things that Shanghai doesn't have. In fact, Hangzhou reminded us alot of Connecticut. A high speed train took us from Shanghai to Hangzhou in 1 hour and 18 minutes. We're staying in a five star hotel close to West Lake. 
Hangzhou was once the capital of China during the Southern Song Dynasty (AD 1127-1279) and is known for West Lake. It is surrounded on three sides by hills, temples, pavillions, gardens and arched bridges. The lake runs about 3 miles across and 9 miles around, a truly beautiful place. We took a boat ride across the lake. I'm exaggerating when I say boat. It was more like a sampan with a single paddle. The man paddling the boat had as many teeth as paddles and he kept telling us how fat we all were and that he should charge us more money. I wanted to push him into the water. Of course, he thought this was great fun....top that with him singing "Happy Birthday to You" in Chinglish, it was an interesting ride.
After dinner, we wandered around the lake and found the musical fountain. It was great to listen to music and watch the water dance to it. It was very nice way to end the day.
