Finally, the big trip! Chris got about 10 days off from work, so I finally had someone to go with to the big city sights in Beijing. Getting to Beijing is expensive (440 yuan) from where I am, so I had to make sure I didn't just spend a weekend there, like I normally do on my trips. We planned to go from Wuxi to Beijing, then down to Xi'an, and then back to Wuxi. Chris was convinced it was cheaper, but in hindsight, it's a fairly equal distance from each direction, so I don't know if it was really that important. Regardless, Xi'an and Beijing are easily the most famous cities for tourists to see, as Xi'an has the Terracotta Warriors and Beijing has... well, everything else: The Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square, and the Mao Mausoleum (You get to look at Chairman Mao's dead, preserved body!)
We left at night, since it's a long train ride (about 12 hours). Some people suggested we pay about 200-400 yuan more to just fly, but that's not quite in my budget. I barely have enough left in my bank account to make rent for August and I still have to live in China for another 3 weeks. Anyway, soft sleeper cars are boring, since you get your own room, and rich Chinese people don't give a shit about other people, so no one chats with you. Hard seats are full of poorer people, but they are far more friendly and chatty, so I learn a lot more Chinese, and I have a lot more fun. Since soft sleepers are so dull, Chris and I went to the diner car to have a beer and watch a movie on Chris' mp3 player.
Once we had sat down and had gotten into about 5 minutes of the movie, we saw the same guy that was trying to chat us up when we were in line to get on the train. We groaned, because he had been kind of annoying in line and his English, although he tries, is not good. He had just walked in, and we pretended not to notice him, and continued watching the movie. He sat down alone, then saw us and immediately got up and sat with us. We smiled politely, but continued watching the movie, hoping he'd get the hint.
The problem was that he couldn't see the mp3 player. It was propped up on a sign showing the daily special, and so he thought we were staring at the sign. He moved the sign towards him, probably because he was going to explain it, and ended up knocking the mp3 player over. We groaned, and finally gave in and took out the earphones to chat with him. It was at this point that we figured out he was actually quite drunk.
We finished our beers, and showed him we had none left, as he kept cheers'ing us every time he couldn't remember the word for something. We were hoping to escape, but he decided he was going to buy us more beers. Clearly, once he started buying me beer, he had gone from annoying to my newest Chinese friend. Chris was largely silent during the conversation, mainly because half of it was in English, and half of it was Chinese. Chris' pronunciation is... well, I can barely understand him in English, his first language. We'll let it rest at that. The Chinese guy couldn't understand a word that came out of Chris' mouth.
Some of the things we learned about the Chinese guy were quite funny. He told us he was from Beijing, in Wuxi on business. Apparently, he is a famous professor, and his technique is known all over China. When he saw me pocket the bottlecaps from the beer bottles (I keep them all, even in Canada), he told me he wished he had known ahead of time that I liked bottlecaps, because he owns the factories that make them. For this reason, I nicknamed him Professor Bottlecap. Chris asked him for his phone number in Beijing for some reason, and he politely declined. His reason was that we are friends by chance, as we saw him in line, and again in the diner car. If God wants us to continue being friends, he will arrange it so we meet again.
Here's why I think it's funny. First off, it was clear that he didn't have all those jobs. He claimed he owned factories all over China, and he's a professor at the university in Beijing, and he makes bottlecaps, and he had another job, which escapes me now. We never could figure out what he did, although Chris has a reasonable theory that Prof Bottlecap goes to different cities and trains the factory workers on how to use machinery. This would explain the "famous technique", his teaching, and the factories. I'm pretty sure the bottlecaps thing is a stretch.
The second reason it was funny is because everything I mentioned was just about all we managed to talk about. I know his job (kind of), that he has a daughter who has far better English than his (although she wasn't there with him), and that he seems to be religious. That's it. We talked for over two hours, and that's all he managed to communicate. Two HOURS of him struggling to remember a word, or attempting various dubious pronunciations of the same word. He also had no clue how to use a dictionary. I brought my Chinese-English dictionary and he kept looking for a word in the wrong area. Seriously, he was looking for Chinese words in the English section.
At one point, he informed me that my dictionary was very poor, because it didn't have the word for God in it. At that time I had no idea what the word he was saying was, but I had an idea due to the context and hand signals. I looked up "Heaven" and "God" and found the word in under a minute. Perhaps if he were looking for the word "Shangdi" in the CHINESE section, instead of under the L's in the ENGLISH section, he would have found it. If he is a professor, it's not anything that requires literacy...
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
Skiing in June
Jessica and I went to Shanghai today, and joined her friend Angie. Angie grew up in Shanghai, and Jessica knows her from the last time she went to China. Angie took us across Shanghai to an indoor ski hill. I had quite a good time watching the Chinese try to figure out how to ski. It clearly isn't something they get to do often. North China supposedly has some good skiing resorts, but certainly not at this time of year. I just like to be able to say I got to ski in late June, when the temperature was 35 degrees Celsius outside.
The "snow" was actually ice shavings, similar to the excess crap they shave off the ice with the zamboni in hockey rinks back in Canada and abandon in a giant snowbank outside. It smelled like a hockey rink as well, despite the lack of sweaty players. I was reminded many times of my time playing hockey while being here. I missed Canada a lot while we skiied, as I hadn't skiied or skated in a few years. I had a ton of flashbacks.
As I hadn't skiied in years, it took a while to get used to moving around. The bottom of the hill was also filled with thick, loose ice shavings, so it was near impossible to move. At first, I thought it was just because they didn't know what they were doing, but then I saw how the Chinese ski. The majority of them have no concept of how to slow down, or turn, since for many of them, this is their first time doing any sort of winter sport. The extra crap at the bottom was to slow them to a stop since most of them just bombed the entire hill, not being able to control their direction or speed, just trying to stay standing up.
It was comical to watch, and there were a ton of collisions, but the part that struck me as surprising is that Jessica's friend, Angie, was remarkably good, and a quick study. I only saw her fall once (on her last run, at that), and by the end, she had figured out a rudimentary turning system, and knew how to control her speed. She wasn't bad, especially if that was her first time skiing.
Afterwards, Angie lead us to a nice Japanese restaurant, with terrific sushi. Despite sushi being a Japanese delicacy, Jessica and I tend to eat it a lot, since it's so cheap here (relatively speaking), and the fish is so fresh. It wasn't all you can eat, but the three of us actually filled ourselves up reasonably for about the cost of one all you can eat price (about 120 yuan). Back in Wuxi, we would've gotten fish that wasn't as good for a considerably higher amount (although I would've stuffed my face a lot more). Once back in Canada, I'm definitely getting a sushi set, as making sushi is not hard, and eating it is extremely healthy (and sooooo tasty). Wasabi!
The "snow" was actually ice shavings, similar to the excess crap they shave off the ice with the zamboni in hockey rinks back in Canada and abandon in a giant snowbank outside. It smelled like a hockey rink as well, despite the lack of sweaty players. I was reminded many times of my time playing hockey while being here. I missed Canada a lot while we skiied, as I hadn't skiied or skated in a few years. I had a ton of flashbacks.
As I hadn't skiied in years, it took a while to get used to moving around. The bottom of the hill was also filled with thick, loose ice shavings, so it was near impossible to move. At first, I thought it was just because they didn't know what they were doing, but then I saw how the Chinese ski. The majority of them have no concept of how to slow down, or turn, since for many of them, this is their first time doing any sort of winter sport. The extra crap at the bottom was to slow them to a stop since most of them just bombed the entire hill, not being able to control their direction or speed, just trying to stay standing up.
It was comical to watch, and there were a ton of collisions, but the part that struck me as surprising is that Jessica's friend, Angie, was remarkably good, and a quick study. I only saw her fall once (on her last run, at that), and by the end, she had figured out a rudimentary turning system, and knew how to control her speed. She wasn't bad, especially if that was her first time skiing.
Afterwards, Angie lead us to a nice Japanese restaurant, with terrific sushi. Despite sushi being a Japanese delicacy, Jessica and I tend to eat it a lot, since it's so cheap here (relatively speaking), and the fish is so fresh. It wasn't all you can eat, but the three of us actually filled ourselves up reasonably for about the cost of one all you can eat price (about 120 yuan). Back in Wuxi, we would've gotten fish that wasn't as good for a considerably higher amount (although I would've stuffed my face a lot more). Once back in Canada, I'm definitely getting a sushi set, as making sushi is not hard, and eating it is extremely healthy (and sooooo tasty). Wasabi!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Recovery
Today, I didn't eat, I barely drank, and I barely walked. I couldn't even think about food. I didn't have any more fun bathroom runs, but that's because my stomach was plenty empty as it was. I laid in bed all day watching Keanu Reeves movies. So here are my reviews:
A Scanner Darkly: Good, but fucked up. May be confusing if you don't pay attention. I had to explain it to Jessica, and she's a smart girl, so keep a sharp eye out for foreshadowing.
Constantine: A fun movie, but nothing terribly special. Worth one watch, unless you really like Heaven vs Hell action movies.
The Watcher: Started off good, but the end sucked. They should've done this one more like the Bone Collector (Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington), or a Hannibal movie (Silence of the Lambs/Red Dragon more specifically). It would've been fun to watch him put together who Keanu Reeves' identity was and catch him, rather than just have it revealed in the way it was (no spoilers).
The Gift: This one gets a big shrug of the shoulders. I couldn't care less about this movie. Bad Southern accents galore, and despite the several stars in this cast, it means nothing to me and the acting was marginal. Plus, a big question as to what happens to Keanu Reeves' character in the end.
Johnny Mnemonic: A classic. If you're a geek, you've already seen it and loved it. If you're not, it's probably not enjoyable, or a one-time watch.
Oh, and as far as I was feeling; by the end of the day, I was well enough to walk around without fear of dry heaving. The next day would be ok for eating/drinking.
A Scanner Darkly: Good, but fucked up. May be confusing if you don't pay attention. I had to explain it to Jessica, and she's a smart girl, so keep a sharp eye out for foreshadowing.
Constantine: A fun movie, but nothing terribly special. Worth one watch, unless you really like Heaven vs Hell action movies.
The Watcher: Started off good, but the end sucked. They should've done this one more like the Bone Collector (Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington), or a Hannibal movie (Silence of the Lambs/Red Dragon more specifically). It would've been fun to watch him put together who Keanu Reeves' identity was and catch him, rather than just have it revealed in the way it was (no spoilers).
The Gift: This one gets a big shrug of the shoulders. I couldn't care less about this movie. Bad Southern accents galore, and despite the several stars in this cast, it means nothing to me and the acting was marginal. Plus, a big question as to what happens to Keanu Reeves' character in the end.
Johnny Mnemonic: A classic. If you're a geek, you've already seen it and loved it. If you're not, it's probably not enjoyable, or a one-time watch.
Oh, and as far as I was feeling; by the end of the day, I was well enough to walk around without fear of dry heaving. The next day would be ok for eating/drinking.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Expensive Muslim Food?!
The poker night last night was fun. The guys are cool, and they didn't make me feel out of place for being the new guy. I certainly didn't win, all thanks to one poor decision I made towards the end. Lee, the guy holding the tournament, was the one who knocked me out, and deservedly so. He was the only one who really put any pressure on me, and he was also the winner in the end. I was just happy to have a guy's night out, away from the apartment I live in filled with long hair everywhere, and clutter everywhere the girlfriend has been.
Just before tutoring, I also picked up my robe, which I suspect they did nothing to, and my pants, which were fixed properly. I paid despite my suspicions, simply because it was still cheaper than buying the button back in Canada. Alex and I walked around Hou XiXi, since the clothing is all dirt cheap due to some upcoming construction, kicking everyone out of their shops. They have to offload a bunch of their inventory, so I saw sweaters for 10 yuan (a buck and a half), tshirts for 15-30, basically all sorts of clothing being sold nearly at cost. Good quality too, not something that will fall apart in a week.
After tutoring, Jessica and I went out to a large Muslim restaurant. Most Muslim restaurants are little, cockroach infested holes in the walls with cheap food (Oh, how I love them). This one was a large building, complete with servers, beverages, and even an English menu and a manager that spoke some English. The food was also unlike most Muslim restaurants... it was expensive. To be fair, we ordered way too much food, so the bill came to something over 100 yuan, but even if we had ordered a sane amount of food, it would've hit 60 or 70 yuan without much trouble. The food was reasonable, and the beer was somewhat warm, but it wasn't a bad meal in the end, or so I thought at the time (explanation is coming).
I walked out feeling too full, with an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach (can you see where it's going yet?). We got home, and I assumed I had just drank too much beer, that my stomach was literally overfilled. The problem was that hours later, the feeling hadn't gone away. I went to bed with that same unpleasant feeling, and fell asleep. About 2 in the morning, I woke up, and knew what had happened immediately.
I made a rush to the toilet, and enjoyed my first case of real, bonafide Chinese food poisoning. Like clockwork, it had happened within that signature 4-6 hour range. Not knowing which end of your body is going to spew undigested food out next is an unpleasant feeling, to say the least. I know it's either the chicken or the lamb I ate, because Jessica didn't get sick. The moral of this story is: When Muslim food is expensive, you should probably be careful. I'll stick to the cheap hole in the wall I've been eating lunch at every day, thanks. At least there, if I get sick, I'm only losing a 5 yuan meal. And for the record, my cockroach infested hole in the wall has yet to make me sick in the least... and I eat from the open bowls of chili sauce and vinegar they have sitting there all day and night.
Just before tutoring, I also picked up my robe, which I suspect they did nothing to, and my pants, which were fixed properly. I paid despite my suspicions, simply because it was still cheaper than buying the button back in Canada. Alex and I walked around Hou XiXi, since the clothing is all dirt cheap due to some upcoming construction, kicking everyone out of their shops. They have to offload a bunch of their inventory, so I saw sweaters for 10 yuan (a buck and a half), tshirts for 15-30, basically all sorts of clothing being sold nearly at cost. Good quality too, not something that will fall apart in a week.
After tutoring, Jessica and I went out to a large Muslim restaurant. Most Muslim restaurants are little, cockroach infested holes in the walls with cheap food (Oh, how I love them). This one was a large building, complete with servers, beverages, and even an English menu and a manager that spoke some English. The food was also unlike most Muslim restaurants... it was expensive. To be fair, we ordered way too much food, so the bill came to something over 100 yuan, but even if we had ordered a sane amount of food, it would've hit 60 or 70 yuan without much trouble. The food was reasonable, and the beer was somewhat warm, but it wasn't a bad meal in the end, or so I thought at the time (explanation is coming).
I walked out feeling too full, with an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach (can you see where it's going yet?). We got home, and I assumed I had just drank too much beer, that my stomach was literally overfilled. The problem was that hours later, the feeling hadn't gone away. I went to bed with that same unpleasant feeling, and fell asleep. About 2 in the morning, I woke up, and knew what had happened immediately.
I made a rush to the toilet, and enjoyed my first case of real, bonafide Chinese food poisoning. Like clockwork, it had happened within that signature 4-6 hour range. Not knowing which end of your body is going to spew undigested food out next is an unpleasant feeling, to say the least. I know it's either the chicken or the lamb I ate, because Jessica didn't get sick. The moral of this story is: When Muslim food is expensive, you should probably be careful. I'll stick to the cheap hole in the wall I've been eating lunch at every day, thanks. At least there, if I get sick, I'm only losing a 5 yuan meal. And for the record, my cockroach infested hole in the wall has yet to make me sick in the least... and I eat from the open bowls of chili sauce and vinegar they have sitting there all day and night.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Finally! Gambling!
A few quick exciting notes for the day: First off, last night, we got Jian Hua to agree to come over later in the week to teach us Majiang. I expect it to be fairly exciting, especially for the gambler in me.
Secondly, I headed out to Fabric Land today (Hou xi xi, a street with a ton of tailors and fabric on it). I finally had my pants fixed (the button had been torn off, I couldn't do up my pants), and I had them reinforce the stitching on a silk robe for me. I'll get them back tomorrow. It cost me slightly over two bucks CAD for them to do all the sewing, as well as go out and buy the button and attach that. I'm loving it.
I knew they were small jobs, and I didn't haggle terribly hard (I was told to get it done for 10 yuan by a Chinese person), but the point wasn't to get this done cheaply. The point was that they're easy jobs, and they're cheap, so it's a good way to build a relationship with a tailor. This way, I can come back next week with Alex, and she can have her bag made, adding more rapport with the tailor. The grand conclusion is by the end of these trips to the tailor, she'll like me well enough to do a good job making my suits for cheap. The suits are the expensive part, and they're what I'll need to haggle hard on.
My last note for the day is the one I'm most excited about. I finally got in on a poker tournament. 100 yuan buy in, and the group is a bunch of white guys, so I finally get a guy's night, and I might actually pull in some cash at the same time. I haven't played poker in 2 months plus a day (today is the 2 month marker I'm in China), and I'm itching to play a hand. The poker tournament is tonight at 10 PM, and I can't wait to check out the competition.
Secondly, I headed out to Fabric Land today (Hou xi xi, a street with a ton of tailors and fabric on it). I finally had my pants fixed (the button had been torn off, I couldn't do up my pants), and I had them reinforce the stitching on a silk robe for me. I'll get them back tomorrow. It cost me slightly over two bucks CAD for them to do all the sewing, as well as go out and buy the button and attach that. I'm loving it.
I knew they were small jobs, and I didn't haggle terribly hard (I was told to get it done for 10 yuan by a Chinese person), but the point wasn't to get this done cheaply. The point was that they're easy jobs, and they're cheap, so it's a good way to build a relationship with a tailor. This way, I can come back next week with Alex, and she can have her bag made, adding more rapport with the tailor. The grand conclusion is by the end of these trips to the tailor, she'll like me well enough to do a good job making my suits for cheap. The suits are the expensive part, and they're what I'll need to haggle hard on.
My last note for the day is the one I'm most excited about. I finally got in on a poker tournament. 100 yuan buy in, and the group is a bunch of white guys, so I finally get a guy's night, and I might actually pull in some cash at the same time. I haven't played poker in 2 months plus a day (today is the 2 month marker I'm in China), and I'm itching to play a hand. The poker tournament is tonight at 10 PM, and I can't wait to check out the competition.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Suzhou: A Day Trip
Today, Jessica has a day off, so we took a day trip to Suzhou, a nearby city. Suzhou seems to have a lot to do, so I will probably make another day trip later on. Jess and I were supposed to go to Suzhou and see some of the sights it has, as it is well known as Jiangsu's best attraction (Jiangsu is the province I'm in). Unfortunately, we were in different train cars, as I had to buy the tickets last minute the night before, after getting back from Hangzhou. I was excited to see some of the many things it is known for, but Jessica made a friend on the train, and so we went out with her to the place she was going anyway.
Her friend (we later named her Helen, she didn't have an English name) spoke almost no English, so Jessica spoke to her most of the time, and since my Chinese isn't nearly as good as Jessica's (hey, she did live here for a year), I felt kind of cut off for the day. I'm sure Helen felt the same when Jess and I were chatting on the bus to her mystery attraction. She showed no signs of it though, always smiling, and trying to pay for us in that Chinese hospitality way. I hate that. Why the Chinese insist on paying for everything is beyond me, it makes far more sense to split the bill, especially when they make significantly less money than we do. I make a typical Chinese monthly salary with my tutoring in about a week and a half, and I work about 1/6th of the hours. It's really not necessary.
It turned out that she took us to Suzhou's New District, to an amusement park. I was looking forward to seeing Suzhou's sights, more than just blow money on roller coasters, but it was a fun experience and I didn't want to be the naysayer, so I went with it. It was fun, in the end. The park had one roller coaster, which was really good, quite a few crappy rides, China's largest Merry-Go-Round, and the best bumper cars I've been to yet. The reason I say the bumper cars were so much fun is because in Canada, it's always some crappy ring, and it's jampacked with too many cars, so you just get into a traffic jam, and barely get to move. This was big, open, and only had 9 cars running. We actually got to drive around, get up to decent speeds, and hit each other (which is kind of the point).
We also climbed a big fake, potentially fake (it jutted out of nowhere) mountain. By climbed, I mean we took a skylift up, and climbed a small bit of stairs to the peak. We got a nice view of the city, but the best part was how we got down. We took a hang glider, suspended on a cable. You got to ride the cable the whole way down. It looked a lot faster than what it actually was, but the experience was a lot of fun.
Since the park closed at 5, as does the rest of China, we took off, and tried to find a nice restaurant to take Helen to, since she was a tricky one, and managed to pay for too much of the amusement park rides, as well as the admission. The meal was good, although fairly high maintenance. I say that because there was a lot of shrimp and fish in the meal, and they don't take apart the shrimp, they cook the whole thing, and expect you to chew the shell off, as well as the head, the legs, etc. The fish, as well, still had bones in it. Still, it was good, and I managed to pay for the meal before she had a chance to open her purse.
Since our tickets for the train back to Wuxi didn't depart until 9, and most attractions close at 5 or 6, we just sat in KFC at the train station to kill time. Jessica and Helen taught each other more vocabulary in their appropriate languages, and this is where Jessica named Helen. Once again, the wily Helen managed to buy us ice cream. We then headed back to Wuxi on the bullet train.
Her friend (we later named her Helen, she didn't have an English name) spoke almost no English, so Jessica spoke to her most of the time, and since my Chinese isn't nearly as good as Jessica's (hey, she did live here for a year), I felt kind of cut off for the day. I'm sure Helen felt the same when Jess and I were chatting on the bus to her mystery attraction. She showed no signs of it though, always smiling, and trying to pay for us in that Chinese hospitality way. I hate that. Why the Chinese insist on paying for everything is beyond me, it makes far more sense to split the bill, especially when they make significantly less money than we do. I make a typical Chinese monthly salary with my tutoring in about a week and a half, and I work about 1/6th of the hours. It's really not necessary.
It turned out that she took us to Suzhou's New District, to an amusement park. I was looking forward to seeing Suzhou's sights, more than just blow money on roller coasters, but it was a fun experience and I didn't want to be the naysayer, so I went with it. It was fun, in the end. The park had one roller coaster, which was really good, quite a few crappy rides, China's largest Merry-Go-Round, and the best bumper cars I've been to yet. The reason I say the bumper cars were so much fun is because in Canada, it's always some crappy ring, and it's jampacked with too many cars, so you just get into a traffic jam, and barely get to move. This was big, open, and only had 9 cars running. We actually got to drive around, get up to decent speeds, and hit each other (which is kind of the point).
We also climbed a big fake, potentially fake (it jutted out of nowhere) mountain. By climbed, I mean we took a skylift up, and climbed a small bit of stairs to the peak. We got a nice view of the city, but the best part was how we got down. We took a hang glider, suspended on a cable. You got to ride the cable the whole way down. It looked a lot faster than what it actually was, but the experience was a lot of fun.
Since the park closed at 5, as does the rest of China, we took off, and tried to find a nice restaurant to take Helen to, since she was a tricky one, and managed to pay for too much of the amusement park rides, as well as the admission. The meal was good, although fairly high maintenance. I say that because there was a lot of shrimp and fish in the meal, and they don't take apart the shrimp, they cook the whole thing, and expect you to chew the shell off, as well as the head, the legs, etc. The fish, as well, still had bones in it. Still, it was good, and I managed to pay for the meal before she had a chance to open her purse.
Since our tickets for the train back to Wuxi didn't depart until 9, and most attractions close at 5 or 6, we just sat in KFC at the train station to kill time. Jessica and Helen taught each other more vocabulary in their appropriate languages, and this is where Jessica named Helen. Once again, the wily Helen managed to buy us ice cream. We then headed back to Wuxi on the bullet train.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Hangzhou: Afternoon
Once we had left the Tea Museum, we took a bus back to the bottom of the West Lake, and stumbled upon the Leifeng temple and pagoda, across the street from each other. The temple was typical of all the others, although one of the buildings was quite nicely decorated inside. The problem with the temples is that they are very similar to each other, and you can't take pictures of the impressive Buddha statues, or anywhere inside the temple, because people pray to them. Religion ruins everything! Chris and I foreignered through some construction and made it behind the tourist barricade, and found a small pagoda that was actually legit, as well as some writing in the mountain that was also surprisingly old. The temple area used to be giant, but all that area was grown in with forest, and so most people only saw the now walled in tourist area. It's quite unfortunate, because that back area was really nice.
We then went over to the Leifeng Pagoda side of the street. This pagoda was cool. It turned out that the original pagoda had crumbled (By means of the Cultural Revolution? I don't know), and they had built a huge, new one over top of it. The original was kept in tact (roughly) and was surrounded by glass windows, inside the new pagoda. The new pagoda had escalators, and elevators (no joke). It had been built as a tribute to the old one, or along those lines. The view from the top was spectacular, and each floor had some kind of meaning. The top floor was essentially a viewing floor. The floor below it had carved wood above each door to the outside, again for viewing. The carved wood was done so it was a picture of what you could see out that door, which was cool. Again, a floor below that was a series of 3D wood carved murals, telling a story of the original legend.
The story (based off of my memory) goes as such:
Song Li (name may be slightly off, it's Song something) was born and grows up, steals some magical herb, causes a bunch of other evil things, but is then captured inside the original Leifeng pagoda. The pagoda eventually crumbled, and the Song family celebrates. It is worth noting that the Song name would be of an important family, as there are a few leaders, and a dynasty named as such. Hangzhou has most of its history take place in the Song Dynasty.
Once again, a floor below that was another viewing room, with artistic murals above each door. I couldn't figure out the meaning of these ones. Below that were three floors where you were able to see random crap they were selling, and/or the original pagoda's remains.
Once finished there, we took a walk down the street to find a place to eat. Chris was determined to find a place where he could sample another famous dish of Hangzhou's: Beggar's Chicken. It's a roasted chicken, cooked in charcoal, and it is by no means meant for beggars. It's roughly 80 yuan. So we took a walk, and bickered about which restaurant to try, and finally agreed on one. The chicken was good, but not great. I don't know what's special about it, as it tasted like just about any roasted chicken, but it was good, albeit somewhat Westernized.
After dinner, we set out for one more attraction, since we were running close to the time the bus left Hangzhou for Wuxi. The Lonely Planet book claimed that Hangzhou is known for scissors, and that it had a small scissors museum that would explain why. We got the name of the place the museum was supposed to be, and it turned out there were two shops (at least). Neither of them had a museum, and they both turned out to be small shops that sold knives and scissors. We were not impressed, and it took us forever to find a cab to get there, as well. We made it to the bus station with about 5 or 10 minutes to spare.
My final impression of Hangzhou would be that it's OK, at best. Its got way too much touristy crap, but if you look hard enough, there are quite a few interesting things in the city. Personally, I think it would be best as a home base to live in, as I am in Wuxi, while travelling out to other cities. The appealing things would be more interesting if you picked them up as a resident, such as the legends, and the easy day-trip attractions that are actually worthwhile (like Leifeng Pagoda/temple, and certain portions of the West Lake). It would also explain why Hangzhou had so many foreigners.
We then went over to the Leifeng Pagoda side of the street. This pagoda was cool. It turned out that the original pagoda had crumbled (By means of the Cultural Revolution? I don't know), and they had built a huge, new one over top of it. The original was kept in tact (roughly) and was surrounded by glass windows, inside the new pagoda. The new pagoda had escalators, and elevators (no joke). It had been built as a tribute to the old one, or along those lines. The view from the top was spectacular, and each floor had some kind of meaning. The top floor was essentially a viewing floor. The floor below it had carved wood above each door to the outside, again for viewing. The carved wood was done so it was a picture of what you could see out that door, which was cool. Again, a floor below that was a series of 3D wood carved murals, telling a story of the original legend.
The story (based off of my memory) goes as such:
Song Li (name may be slightly off, it's Song something) was born and grows up, steals some magical herb, causes a bunch of other evil things, but is then captured inside the original Leifeng pagoda. The pagoda eventually crumbled, and the Song family celebrates. It is worth noting that the Song name would be of an important family, as there are a few leaders, and a dynasty named as such. Hangzhou has most of its history take place in the Song Dynasty.
Once again, a floor below that was another viewing room, with artistic murals above each door. I couldn't figure out the meaning of these ones. Below that were three floors where you were able to see random crap they were selling, and/or the original pagoda's remains.
Once finished there, we took a walk down the street to find a place to eat. Chris was determined to find a place where he could sample another famous dish of Hangzhou's: Beggar's Chicken. It's a roasted chicken, cooked in charcoal, and it is by no means meant for beggars. It's roughly 80 yuan. So we took a walk, and bickered about which restaurant to try, and finally agreed on one. The chicken was good, but not great. I don't know what's special about it, as it tasted like just about any roasted chicken, but it was good, albeit somewhat Westernized.
After dinner, we set out for one more attraction, since we were running close to the time the bus left Hangzhou for Wuxi. The Lonely Planet book claimed that Hangzhou is known for scissors, and that it had a small scissors museum that would explain why. We got the name of the place the museum was supposed to be, and it turned out there were two shops (at least). Neither of them had a museum, and they both turned out to be small shops that sold knives and scissors. We were not impressed, and it took us forever to find a cab to get there, as well. We made it to the bus station with about 5 or 10 minutes to spare.
My final impression of Hangzhou would be that it's OK, at best. Its got way too much touristy crap, but if you look hard enough, there are quite a few interesting things in the city. Personally, I think it would be best as a home base to live in, as I am in Wuxi, while travelling out to other cities. The appealing things would be more interesting if you picked them up as a resident, such as the legends, and the easy day-trip attractions that are actually worthwhile (like Leifeng Pagoda/temple, and certain portions of the West Lake). It would also explain why Hangzhou had so many foreigners.
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