Today we are going to Hangzhou, a two hour train ride south of Shanghai. Sabrina booked us rooms at the Marco Polo hotel, which coincidentally my China guide book says is one of the nicer hotels.
The train station in Shanghai was very much under construction, and really looked like a war zone. Crowded, definitely a place to keep a tight grip on laptop and camera bags. The train itself is comfortable and spacious. I think I saw a bar with expensive cognacs by the door on the way in!
Sabrina just asked me the population of Waterloo. 90000 or so. Hangzhou, the “small town’ we’re going to is 6.6 million. Kinda puts things in perspective.
Finished Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons on the train ride. Even moreso than The Da Vinci Code, I think this would make a great movie. A bit less dry exposition, more action, and even a place for some cool visual effects.
The suburbs around Shanghai are a big surprise to me. I expected to see striking poverty. To be sure, there is some of that. Hovels beside the train tracks, with roofs of plastic sheets held down by bricks or old tires. But then there also large numbers of what look like modern subdivisions. The houses look new, nice, spacious and clean. The streets clean. There is industry, fairly modern looking, so they’re not all scratching a meager existence from the land as I thought. Sabrina says the the country people built these houses themselves. I’ve even seen houses here with solar water heating systems!
These people, many of them anyway, seem to be living the future to me. I can’t imagine why they would leave this place to peddle counterfeit watches on the Bund. I must be missing something.
In Hangzhou, the usual nerve-wracking taxi ride takes us to the hotel, which is indeed pretty nice. One of the nicest I’ve seen in any country, and including a few little things I’ve never seen before. A flashlight is mounted under one of the desks, that’s new to me. Perhaps to discourage theft, the only way to turn it off is to return it to its permanetly-affixed cradle, which drives a plastic wedge between the two batteries, breaking the circuit. A somewhat disturbing discovery was a gas mask in the closet. Apparently this is how they expect us to escape in a fire.
The bathroom is provided with all the usual amenities, including some only seen at higher end establishments (toothbrushes, combs). Plus some surpises: a blister pack containing a new Gillette razor, blades and cream (which you do have to pay for.) And, somewhat risque, a pack of condoms. Studded condoms, no less. ‘Jissbonn’ brand condoms. The jokes just write themselves…
After settling in to the room, we walked down to the shore of West Lake. Took some photos. Started walk to restaurant, but found a gondola-style boat to carry us instead, after some haggling. Photography was difficult with swaying of the gondola, and misty day.
Arrived at restaurant: LouWaiLou, apparently very famous. Definitely veru large and busy. The restaurant has been operating for over 150 years. We are in lofty company in this place. Emperors have eaten here. But none recently.
The menu was very large, and somewhat challenging for a squeamish Westerner who doesn’t much care for seafood. But for a connoisseur of Chinese cuisine, I’m sure it must be a dream.
We had a hot and sour fish soup (song sao yu geng, Aunt Song’s fish soup), which I was surprised to find I really enjoyed. The fish taste was very subtle. Fried bean curd, and a preserved cabbage dish that is one of Sabrina’s favourites. Some kind of chopped herb (sort of like parsley) with peanuts and pinenuts. And, for the main course, a braised fish head with peppers (duo jiao yu tou). All of it very good. Being the gentleman that I am, I left most of the fish head for Sabrina, and had to content myself with some of the flesh from further down.
Continuing my policy of drinking local beers as much I can when travelling (when else will I get the chance), we had the local “Cheerday” beer. A very pale yellow lager, brewed with water from nearby Qiandao Lake. They make a point of saying the water is untreated, it’s supposedly clear to a depth of 9 metres and clean enough to drink right out of the lake. The beer is only 2.3% alcohol by volume. Sadly, I found it slightly skunky. The bottle is clear glass, which is generally a bad idea, because UV light makes the hop oils break down and develop a skunk-like character.
Walked home slowly along the lake shore. Now dark, but all the buildings along the lake and many boats are spectacularly lit. Behind us, a steep slope ascends with houses casting light on the slope above them, making a very cool scene. I took some photos, but without a tripod, I was not going to get much.
The shoes I brought to Hangzhou are not very comfortable for long walking. I only brought them because my other shoes were still wet from the typhoon in Shanghai yesterday. We decided to stop and by me a pair of sandals. Tomorrow I’ll give them a try.
Time now to sleep.