Hangzhou, china

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 ~