China - Spring 2018, Hangzhou – 3 - suddenly Spring

March 22, Thursday

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QING HE FANG STREET

Qing He Fang Street

guess who?

     Well, the weather changed overnight—sunshine and warming in the course of the morning. By 11:00 we were ready to go out and enjoy the balmy day. There is a preserved Song Dynasty (12^th 13^th Centuries) street called Qing He Fang Street on the southeastern shore of West Lake that is a popular tourist destination, so we decided to go and look around the area. There is also a park on Nanshan Road, Xueshi Park, near He Fang Street with a popular teahouse that we wanted to try, and then a have lunch at a recommended steakhouse called Slim's not too far from Xueshi Park on Nanshan Road.

something to brighten up a rainy day

guardian of the gate?

silversmith at work 

corner house 

jolly god of happiness and abundance

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XUESHI PARK 

It's all about willows in Xueshi Park.

      We took Metro Line 1 down to the old town area and walked along Southern Song Imperial Street to the corner of Qing He Fang Street. The crossroads was crowded and bustling with people and biz as we walked along Qing He Fang towards the lakeside Xueshi Park. At this time of the year the park is all about weeping willows, they are just dripping spring green everywhere you look. Wonderful for nature photography. Unfortunately, the teahouse we had planned try didn't work out. We were unable to read the menu (all in Chinese) and the wait staff spoke no English, so we left without ordering anything and proceeded to look for Slim's. We found Slim's without much trouble and found it open around 2 PM so we ordered some steaks which turned out to be delicious.

old stone bridge

the players

Slim's Steakhouse

March 23, Friday

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WESTERN CAUSEWAY

on the boat

West Lake - popular for small boats

     Took a boat on West Lake today. The weather remained sunny and warm for a boat ride on the lake. The plan was to go by boat to the south end of the lake and walk along the Western Causeway, thus circumnavigating about 9/10 of the lake. The first stop was an island called Three Pools Mirroring the Moon, then another boat to the southwestern shore to pick up the long Western Causeway and walk back to the northern end of the lake, about 2.5 km.; took a #7 bus back to the hotel.

Leifeng Pagoda from Three Pools Mirroring the Moon Island

idyllic scene on Western Causeway

lakeside pavilion on Western Causeway

single oar canopied boat on West Lake 

a little light mango refreshment concoction

water fountain in West Lake

roast pork and dumplings

       In the evening we decided to eat in at the Chinese restaurant on the 10^th floor. The food was delicious and, although the nagging colds persisted, we felt better and stronger after resting and eating, so we went out after dark to see the Musical Fountain that spouts high jets of white and colored water that look a little like fireworks. 

Wyndham Grand Plaza Royale

China - Spring 2018, Hangzhou – 2 an 80-year-old Doctor

in the taxi to the clinic

     We had breakfast earlier than usual and got into the taxi that the hotel had arranged around 9 A.M. The hospital was quite a bit farther than I had imagined. It took at least half an hour to get there.

THE HOSPITAL 

one of our caretakers . . . 

. . .  the other caretaker

       The hospital people were warm and friendly. They practically took us by the hand when we arrived, looking confused and uncertain, and shepherded us around for our examinations and blood work. They treated us like VIPs. Our liaisons were a lady and a man both of whom spoke English and Japanese. They brought us to the doctor who examined us. He had exquisite bedside manner, friendly and smiling and efficient. It turned out that he was 80-years old (I asked). Then we went to another area for blood work. I normally hate blood work, but I was amazed at how quick and efficient it was. I hardly felt anything and before I knew it it was over.

our 80-year-old charmer -
and I don't think his hair is dyed

herbal medicine

       While waiting for the blood work results in our liaisons' office I realized I had lost my reading glasses. The man backtracked, looking for them, but didn't find them. I was resigned to doing without them when we returned to the examining doctor's room for the blood work results and the lady asked about my glasses again. The old doc smiled and produced them, having found them behind the examining table where they had fallen out of my breast pocket when he examined my abdomen. I was so relieved. The good doctor prescribed some Chinese herbal medicine and throat lozenges. We took our first dose in the liaisons' office then the lady kindly helped us hail a taxi back to the hotel. We were really impressed with our treatment at the hospital and the efficiency and competence of the professional staff.

WEST LAKE - THE NORTHERN CAUSEWAY 

tourist map of West Lake and surroundings

Lingering Cold on Broken Bridge

       The weather was still uncooperative—cloudy, windy and very cold—when we got back to the hotel, but we decided to go out and walk along the Northern [Bai] Causeway of West Lake anyway and take our chances. We planned to take just a short walk to the first stone bridge—poetically called “Lingering Snow on the Broken Bridge” (although it isn't broken)--one of the scenic spots around the lake. But, once there, we said what the hell and decided to keep on walking to the end of the causeway—about one and half kilometers.

Lingering Snow on the Broken Bridge

duet at Broken Bridge

wind in the willows

 smart phone trio

smart phone solo

       The strong cold wind was biting and unpleasant. I felt chilled to the bone and the damp cold was affecting my hip a little. Thanks to the weather and the lingering cold it was not a really pleasant outing, but we soldiered on. After traversing the causeway it took a while to find a bus stop to take us back to the hotel, but we finally succeeded. It cost 2 Yuan (about 39 cents ) per person—more than reasonable. After settling for a KFC and some not very fresh food we returned to the hotel and into a nice hot bath to heat up the muscles and bones. Although the weather could have been better, the outing was better than sitting in your room all day, cold or no cold.

Hangzhou on the eastern shore of West Lake

Chinese restaurant - what else?

excursion boat

Western [Su] Causeway -
mountains on the western shore of West Lake

Wenlan Pavilion  along the Northern Causeway

China - Spring 2018, Hanghou – 1 High Speed Train to Hangzhou

I tend to think of this short (2-week) trip as a “watertowns” tour. This area, just east and southwest of Shanghai, is dotted with lakes, rivers and canals. It contains many beauty spots with a water theme—either man made or natural. I have already written about Suzhou and its lovely landscape gardens built around ponds or canals.

Hangzhou, next on our itinerary is a bustling metropolis built on the eastern shore of West Lake, a large natural feature of the area that has been landscaped with stone bridges and long tree lined causeways that are perfect for strolling and enjoying nature. We spent seven days exploring the points of interest in the area.

Our last stop, a short three days, was Zhujiajiao, an old town built along a canal that used to be used for commercial transportation, but is now plied with innumerable boats offering rides on the canal for tourists.

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TRAVEL AND ARRIVAL

Suzhou Railroad Station waiting area -
only half of the concourse shown

High Speed Train

     We checked out of the Suzhou Soul Hotel on Monday, March 19 and took the hotel shuttle to Suzhou Railway Station to board a high speed train to Hangzhou a ride of a little over two hours. The concourse and waiting area is cavernous. The train departed on time (12:36) and arrived in Hangzhou around 14:45. We had a little drama at Hangzhou Station. I leaned my crutch against a column while we consulted our map for finding our hotel, the Wyndham Grand Plaza Royale, before setting off on foot. Then we proceeded through the wicket and, while in the men's room, I realized that I had forgotten my crutch. I backtracked the short distance and saw my crutch still leaning against the column. I flagged down a station security man and explained (mostly by body language) my problem while pointing at the crutch and myself, saying: “That's mine!” He caught on, retrieved my crutch, and gave it back to me.

Wyndham Grand Plaza Royale

our upgraded room

        Relieved, we followed our map and soon found the hotel after a short walk, maybe a kilometer or so. We had booked an ordinary room, but when we checked in we were given an upgrade. We were first time guests staying for seven days, so it's good marketing to upgrade and encourage new guests to stay again. Our upgraded room was a spacious business suite very elegantly decorated and very comfortable. Since we had both come down with persistent colds the spacious room was perfect for resting. A little tired after a day of traveling we decided to stay in and enjoy our room and have dinner in the hotel. We chose a Thai Restaurant that was well reviewed on TripAdvisor and decided to give it a try. It turned out to be a good choice as the food and atmosphere were excellent.

nicely folded napkin

Here's looking at you, kid!

mixed meat kebabs

rape greens and stuffed pineapple

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UNCOOPERATIVE WEATHER

        The weather took a turn for the worse the next day—very cold and raining most of the morning. After the hotel's buffet breakfast the weather was still overcast with a low cloud ceiling and poor visibility. We decided to postpone a walk along the northern causeway and went swimming in the hotel pool instead. We needed to keep the body in some condition to fight the cold, so the weather was a good excuse to do some swimming.

        Towards late afternoon the rain had stopped and we decided to walk along the lake shore and look for a restaurant. The wind was very strong and icy cold even with three layers and a windbreaker. We should have brought warmer clothes. We were unwise to come without our down jackets. Walked about a kilometer along the eastern shore of West Lake, passed by a famous tea house that charges 180 Yuan (about $30) for a cup of tea and some sweets. Imagine!

bronze group sculpture depicting
common people thanking
a beloved administrator on his departure

famously expensive teahouse

West Lake - from the eastern shore

it was steaming so it must be some sort of kettle

        We were both feeling under the weather and running a bit of fever so we decided to call our travel insurance to arrange a visit to a doctor. The insurance company arranged a doctor's appointment and, with the help of the wonderful hotel staff, reserved a taxi to take us to the clinic—all covered by the insurance, including the taxi fare. Although the weather was uncooperative we got quite a lot accomplished in our first two days: got some physical exercise, got oriented within the area of eastern West Lake and got an appointment to see a doctor the next day.