Hangzhou

Elinor and I fled the Wild Wild West for the peaceful banks of the West Lake in Hangzhou. We got in around 1 in the morning, and ended up booking a shady hotel. The place was kind of a nightmare, but as we were only staying there for a night we didn't care.

In the morning we headed to the train station to get a seat back on an evening train to Shanghai. Trains run from Hangzhou to Shanghai every 10 minutes. For whatever reason, on that particular Friday, the train station was a mad house. The earliest available train that they still had tickets for was at 8:41pm. We jumped on it and were on our way.



We had the cab driver take us to the Leifeng Pagoda. First built in the 10th century, the Leifeng Pagoda was famous for being the site of the remarkable Lady White Snake legend. This tale is unrestrained, to say the least, and I highly recommend y'all read it if you're interested in the extravagancy of Chinese folk tales.



However, the pagoda burned down in 1924 after an attack by Japanese pirates. From 2000-2002, it was rebuilt by the Hangzhou government. In the basement the remains of the original pagoda are available for viewing. The Leifeng Pagoda gave a great view of the surrounding West Lake and the city.



This is a really cool picture I wanted to share... so the brooms are hand made in China. And this particular woman just threw down her old broom, gathered some new brush and started making a new broom!!



In the afternoon, Elle and I just walked around, had afternoon tea, and mostly just talked and people-watched. It was a lovely day, despite the overcast skies. I can easily see how so many people believe Hangzhou to be the loveliest city. The West Lake, one of the largest natural freshwater lakes in China, provides a serene backdrop for the entire city.





We were back in Shanghai by midnight.

We have two weeks until Spring Break (and my 21st birthday!!). A couple of friends and I plan to go to Cambodia and Thailand. I'm hoping to combine some sight-seeing with trekking through the rainforests and finish with some R&R on a Thai beach. I'm very excited to visit Southeast Asia! Birthday cards are greatly appreciated and can be sent to my mom ;0)

Miss you all!! Hope you enjoyed the pictures and the facebook videos!

Love,
Meg