Last day in Hangzhou. We had a tour booked to a water village called Wu Zhen. Wu Zhen is where scenes from Mission Impossible III were filmed. The scenes where Tom Cruise was running through the water village is familiar for many.We were up before the roosters and headed to breakfast. We figured it would be a good idea to eat something since heading to a water village- the quality of cuisine would be.....questionable.
We were on the tour bus and the guide goes into a non-stop 60 minute monologue about Wu Zhen. They must all be trained to do this. In fact, I could see the want ad for this position. "Wanted: Girl with a very shrilly voice who can speak non-stop without breathing". I was able to understand her better since she spoke a bit slower than yesterday's guide so I knew what was coming. We decided to separate from the tour group and explore the village on our own.
We wandered around and found some interesting sites. This is yet another village that is stuck in imperial China. These are tourist attractions because places like this are disappearing. China is developing so quickly that traces of the past will soon be gone forever.
It was lunch time and the kids were getting hungry. Now this was going to get ugly. All that was available were local restaurants and they were not going to have any of that. They insisted that they saw a McDonalds but, surprise, we couldn't find it. Now, gentle reader, there is nothing worse than a whiny, hungry kid and we had two to deal with. All we could find was a convenience store. The only things the kids ate were Oreos, Chinese moon pies and M&M's. I know, I know, not the healthiest of diets but at least they stopped whining. Besides, how much worse can it be than smelly tofu?We had a nice tour of Wu Zhen and then left to return to the railway station for our train back to Shanghai. In between, we gobbled down some KFC. Yes, another healthy meal on the road.
Hopped the train and returned to Shanghai. Picked up a taxi and waltzed in the door at 8:30 PM. Popped some laundry into the washing machine and we're watching Mission Impossible III. What a way to end the weekend.
