Another famous tourist spot not too far from Shanghai is Hangzhou, about 100km southwest away. From Shanghai we took the morning train and within an hour we reached Hangzhou, who Mr Marco Polo declare it to be "the most beautiful and elegant city in the world".
Well i like it because It's peaceful, beautiful lakes and pagodas, not too crowded as it is in Shanghai, sweet fragrant of the Sweet Osmanthus or Guihua in chinese (which is the 'city flower' of Hangzhou) along most of the streets and most importantly the lay-back life style. We spend about 3 days and 2 nights (which is enough in my opinion) ><
upon arriving, we directly checked in to our hostel, Hangzhou International youth Hostel @ Nanshan road. We booked a private room with toilet attached, it was a lovely little cozy room with a plasma tv and the toilet was really clean and modern. I would recommend this hostel to those who wish to visit Hangzhou :)
from our room we even have a lovely view and the location is fantastic. Only few minutes walk away from the West lake and also just a few blocks away from pubs and clubs
we didn't waste anytime, took a stroll around the area
visits every corner of the area
had a few debates with the locals ><
after few hours of walking, we then took the boat ride(insurance included) around the West lake and also to visit 2 small island
boat ride ><..... from here we can also see one of Hangzhou's many famous pagodas
can't remember what this headstone means....something three............month?
typical Chinese pavilion
this is the flower of Sweet Osmanthus or
Guihua....small but the fragrant is strong and yet not over powering.... i love it!
one of the island on the lake that we visited
next a very famous restaurant that you MUST not missed is Lou Wai Lou, located right on the lake on an island off Beishan Road and in existences for over 150 years. This place is always packed with local and also tourist at night, so luckily we went during late lunch hour so no reservation was needed :)
They are famous for the "West lake sweet & sour fish" and nother Hangzhou's specialty is "
Dongporou" an extremely fatty chunky of pork uhlala....just thinking about it makes me hungry
image of the 3 Pools Mirroring the Moon at West Lake, the same drawing as on the RMB1 banknote. I was told that on the night of Mid-autumn day when the moon is biggest and brightest this very scene will turn to very magical. WOW
Boon @ West lake
the West Lake
we even went up to a small hill and enjoy the breathtaking view
then next day, we decided to rent bicycles and covers the area which is hard to reach by foot,
the city is quite bicycle-friendly, traffic lights and small lanes dedicated for bicycles plus it's cheaper and fun
@ Bai causeway or formerly known as "white sand embankment"
before we start to cycle further away, we had our breakfast of hot soupy noodle @ Lou Wai Lou....emmmmm. A great way to start our day
On our cycling journey, we saw alot of old people doing TaiChi or dancing @ their local parks
I think it's healthy
boon with his mini bicycle...hehe the bikes are quite small so anyone who is 6' above are not going to be very comfortable
some pagoda nearby
some famous person's tomb ><
we went to quite a numbers of place but sorry i didn't took much photos because i was busy avoiding other bikes from crashing me >< but never the less it was a fun experience
after few hours of cycling, it was enough for me. Went to
Sudi to watch the sunset
how romantic
i saw many old and even young people fishing @ the lake....i wonder if they cook them? hmm
^^ lovely
the 3rd day, we went to Lingyin Temple, somewhere northwest of Hangzhou founded at 328AD,
it's peak, the temples multi-storey buildings, pavilions, halls and dormitory rooms, inhabited by more than 3000 monks
stone carving at Feilai Feng or Flying Peak made of limestone, located just in front of the temple
Legend holds that the peak was originally from India but flew to Hangzhou overnight as a demonstration of the omnipotence of Buddhist law
alot of this Feilai grottoes carves on the limestone
small cave
front area of the main hall of the temple, Grand Hall of the Great Sage, you can go in deep into this multi-storey temple. There is also a small temple of the Beggar monk on the right side
this place look like in the old Chinese movies
going deeper and deeper...are we lost? Bing Bing checking on the map ><
going up the hill
there was a small temple but we didn't saw any other visitors, we were the only ones.
How cool is that
luckily we went up the hill, or else we don't go to see the beautiful view from the temple top. What a great way to end our visit in Hangzhou.
Went back to our hostel and collect our bags and took the night train back to Shanghai.
Overall.....a nice trip
i'm hopping my next China trip is to the Great Wall of China! fingers cross .... ><
~ zai jian Zhongguo ~
dinner with few of my friends @ a small cafe ( Rice Bar)
my deep fried chicken fillet with rice...potion just nice and taste not too bad either
one of Penang typical street food is "Lo Bak", mixture of deep fried spring rolls, prawn cake and etc.. together with it's special sauce to dip with
back to my working days, this simple economic noodles used to be my breakfast
Chee Cheong Fun (rice noodle roll)....not the typical Hong kong or Cantonese style with Prawn and soy sauce but with prawn paste and special mix chili sauce....my likey
next to a small town about 30 minutes away from Penang island, a small town called Nibong Tebal famous for their seafood porridge. You can also select our preferred seafood to cooked with your porridge i like mine with fish ^^
if you don't like porridge, maybe noodles?
last but not least baby octopus....yummy dip with prawn paste with grown nuts.....
