Thursday was a low key day. We had no paperwork obligations and the weather was rainy so Derek left us alone to explore the city. We went for a walk in the morning, stopping in a mall to buy some baby clothes, then in a Carrefour for some food that Charlotte likes. We had lunch in a noodle shop that we enjoyed earlier in the week. We tried to keep Charlotte covered at all times to avoid a reprimand from the "fashion police" - as Betsy Segal had warned us, older Chinese women will walk up to you and scold you when they see your child insufficiently bundled up. Charlotte's pants would often slide up her legs a little as we carried her walking around, and we would get stares or gestures or reprimands. One woman walked up to me holding Charlotte and pulled her pant legs down and tucked them in her socks, tut-tutting in Chinese all the time.
That evening we went out to dinner at a restaurant that Derek recommended. It was a comical experience, in retrospect. It was pouring rain, and while the restaurant was only a couple of blocks away we had trouble finding it. We walked in dripping wet, and found that it was a little more upscale than we expected. Charlotte was in no mood to sit still. The waiters spoke no English, and left us with menus and what appeared to me to be a teapot and teacups. I poured out and tasted warm water. We then decided that it must be a hand washing device (no napkins at the table) and watched other tables for some indication of what to do, which never came. We ordered our meals with pointing and gesturing, but they looked at us funny, probably because we ordered only meat dishes (we absentmindedly assumed we would get noodles or rice and veggies with the meals). We communicated our drink order with great difficulty. Then Charlotte melted down, we wolfed down our meals, paid our bill and left. It was still pouring rain. During the walk back to the hotel, an older lady approached us and started talking animatedly. She was one of the fashion police but kind hearted- she offered her umbrella and walked us back to the hotel. It was a nice connection with a local, even though we could not understand a word she said.
On Friday morning, Derek and Jiang picked us up and gave us a tour of the major sights of Hangzhou. It was still rainy. We started with the Lingyin Si, a Buddhist temple in the hills near West Lake. It is a very peaceful place, with a forested entrance and many old and interesting Buddhist sculptures carved into rocks along the pathway. The path led to a set of large pagodas with massive and ornate Buddhist statues, in front of which people were worshipping and burning incense. The temple is an active monetary. We saw monks moving about. Next we went to the Six Harmonies Pagoda, a 200 foot tall structure nearly 1000 years old that offers a commanding view of the Qiantang River. We had a delicious lunch downtown including scallion pancakes and orange prawns, then a little shopping, then a walk around parts of West Lake,which is regarded as one of the most picturesque areas in all of China. We saw a peacock, walked through a garden with a pond full of huge "goldfish" (essentially koi). Derek was a great guide, explaining the cultural significance of all of the sights and describing ancient legends.
Finally we picked up Charlotte's Chinese passport and headed for the airport.
Hangzhou was a very enjoyable city to stay in. It is important in Chinese history (was the national capital during the Song Dynasty) and is in the center of the booming Chinese economy. On the south side of the river practically an entire new city (though part of Hangzhou) has sprung up in the last 15-20 years. But it felt to us like a friendly, manageable city. This probably had a lot to do with Derek, who was a great guide.
Friday night we had a 2 hour flight south to Guangzhou, where we are staying at the luxurious Garden Hotel. More on our experiences here in the next post.
P.S. - Amy and Priscilla, we saw your messages about Pete, but not until we we were heading out of Beijing. Sorry to have missed him, but Maura agrees that June would have loved it.
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