Tea, Pagodas and Watching Goldfish on a Flowery Stream. [Where do they get these names?]
The alarm and wake up call go off 2 minutes apart which signals the start of another Dance of the Not so Tiny but Terribly Lit Bathroom. Having packed the night before, it was a quick shower and garbing and we were off to find that there was a little something already out at the breakfast buffet. After a quick roll and coffee we meet Zhu Li and our driver the never-smiling Shao Wei and we are off to an uneventful trip to the airport with a few pics of the fog shrouded [or maybe that’s just the pollution] Tombs that we missed snapping on the way in.
Zhu Li gets us checked in by 6:45 for the 8AM flight and with a wave she is of to meet another incoming group and we head to find gate 7. Already anticipating an issue at the security gate… I had packed my water in the tchotchke bag and had my money clip, phone and coins in the bin along with the computer but still had to argue to get the film around the machine for an inspection… no need to try to re-sort it… most of its already shot and I have isolated the fresh stuff for quick repack which the nice lady inspector helps to do.
We stroll past overpriced airport shops with the hope of finding something worth the price and finding nothing, park ourselves at the chairs closest to the gate. I warn Illy to be prepared to bolt to the gate as soon as the cute desk agent comes back from checking the Jetway anticipating the cattle stampede once boarding is announced. Of course it’s in Chinese first and before we could react, we were overwhelmed by some pretty impolite folks who must have thought they may lose their seat if the don’t storm on the plane first.
Once settled in and off the ground, we get the mini meal… I do a little typing and its time to land in Hangzhou.
On the ground in Henzhou its another hike to claim baggage and find our Names on a sign being held by our guide here Mr. Luo…who… is not there. Not to worry… We’re 20 minutes early and I have his phone number.
After getting the dialing codes straight, I reach a MISS Luo, who has no idea what I'm talking about but who will check her agency for the details and call me back. First hiccup in the program but we aren’t worried and settle down for the return call.
Just then Lai Lan [Nancy] who was the replacement guide, sees two confused looking westerners and hurries over to ask if we were “Mr, and Mrs. Mack Cur yio. I assured her we where and she apologized profusely for being late due to unbearable traffic. We met our driver Mr. Li who insisted in taking Illy’s bag, catching a pebble and jamming the right wheel and grindds a flat spot on it with the gritty pavement until I realized that long black stripe was coming from her suitcase. I shout for him to stop and loosen the stone but the damage was done…I'll fix it at the hotel.
We check in to the Ramada Haihua and find a beautiful top floor business class room, only to have a loud compressor with a noisy bearing sounding like it would come through the wall cause a room swap to a lesser but still comfortable room and seriously lucky number 555.
More later as our Hangzhou adventure will begin in 30 minutes.
Let’s get right to it.
On the way in as we cross the Qintang river Lai Lan informs us that on the 15th day of 8th lunar month they celebrate the Qintang River Tidal Wave Festival. Since the mouth of the river is shaped like trumpets bell, the force of the lunar tide actually causes a tidal wave to build up and run the length of the river, sometime reaching 8-10 meters high. In ancient times it used to flood and wreck everything along the river bank.
We meet Lai Lan and the suitcase wheel killer Li in the lobby after the room swap due to then
noisy compressor [a real shame as the first room was really first class…] where they waste no time in heading straight….well there are a bunch of winding roads around the West Lake…to the “Yellow Dragon Cave Dressed in Green”. As the folklore goes a monk [always a monk] was sent to search for water and while napping [they always do] he dreamt of Dragons. The other monks found and woke him and began to ridicule him and his story of dragons. Just then a stream of water sprung from the face of the mountain in front of them and the monk erected a dragons head around the water flow and built the park to commemorate the occasion.Within the park you’ll find the Lucky garden that has a cute little pond with a 6 children
surrounding an ancient coin, all sitting in the middle of a lotus blossom. There are 7 stumps surrounding the pond corresponding with each type of luck that each child represents: wealth, love, marriage, learning [wisdom] career success and having a son. The 7th is for any kind of luck. The object is to stand on the stump you wish to come true, say a prayer and toss a coin into the square hole in the center or the ancient coin. If successful there comes a rich belly laugh from the hole and your wish is granted. We attempt 5 tries each and we missed each time. Oh wellllll…. Just gotta find a happy Buddha to rub the belly. Pics all around and we are off to lunchWe drove up to the Holiday Wuyang hotel [no connection to Holiday Inn] and were ushered into a delightfully bright but tasteful room and got right to it after the usual sparring about the beer factor.
Great beef soup with balanced flavors but little too much MSG, next pork in a spicy brown sauce that was too fatty… they do love their fat on pork… and some spicy fried potatoes which were very good and of course the usual steamed veggies & fried rice. Good green tea...beer good ***+
At the Tea Museum and Cultural center we are met with the usual English speaking guide that takes us through the facility and instructs us in the process of growing and processing tea down through the ages as well as how to tell one tea from another… like I'm really gonna remember this. That’s why I took all the pics of the process explanations and equipment and am using them to refresh my meager memory.
Next stop is a real tea village with the only farm that does it all by hand where we see the picking and pruning on the tea bushes, and the ancient method of drying the tea by hand in a larges metal bowl that is oiled and the semi-air dried leaves are continually swirled to dry to
the proper texture. We are then taken to a pavilion and first shown the tea after processing. Then served what they call in a "Grass in a Glass" and taught how to drink a "Glass of Grass". We are told that Emperor Tea is Green tea picked in mid to late march and is the most aromatic off the green teas.Tea picked before April 5 is considered 1st class and after April 20th it is considered 2nd class. Even though we in the west have recently been inundated with the benefits of green tea, they reiterated the basics for us such as, Green tea reduces hypertension & cholesterol… If you put green tea in chicken soup it will absorb the fat and undesirable oils… Green tea balances spicy foods… Drink green tea before & after each meal to aid digestion…Ya got that… we will be giving a brief test after all this.
They then proceeded to assume we were going to buy tea to take the USA and we declined not wishing to incur the wrath of the agricultural section of US customs by attempting to bring foreign agricultural products into the country. [Just like the time I tried to bring Prosciutto and Provologne in from Italy where the officers at MIA swore mad cow infected pork products.] Unhappy faces around but we held firm. Since the first picking or Emperors tea is not available for export, 50% goes to the government and the other half stays with the farmer to sell locally and hustle tourists to take home. Avoiding the 2nd, 3rd and 4th tea hustle we escape through the obligatory tchotchke furniture, silk and junk shop, boarded our trusty van and head to the 6 Harmonies Pagoda, so named as it represents heaven, earth & the 4 compass points, where we climb another bunch of stairs…and more stairs…. And still more stairs… and upon reaching what we think is the top, Lai Lan asks if we want to climb the stairs inside to the top of the pagoda. The look on Illy’s face quickly nixes that idea so we stroll all the soft areas.
Chucky notices that they have replicas of all the important pagodas in China on the hill above
the Pagoda so he proceeds to head up only to find they go aaaallllllll the way up and around and around… thinking he only had a couple… he winds up committing to snapping all of them going up one side and down the other… all the while the girls are waiting on the 2nd level [there are 11 levels] thinking I surely fell off the hill, but Illy admits to seeing me now and then dodging from one pagoda to the next. I finally finish up high and meet the ladies on the 2nd level and work my way around to finish the Pagoda Study and promise that it will wind up in a separate slide show [and when in the hell does he think he’s gonna do that]. We finish with pics around and head for the last stop of the day.Just one of several gardens within the West Lake park, Watching Goldfish on a Flowery
Stream is a true delight. A winding park that encompasses a broad range of sights and scents including a Peacock preserve with some dandy fellows wandering the grounds. The main Goldfish “Flowery Stream” is an idyllic spot to sit and reflect on the grandeur of the nature that surrounds you… and some pretty damn big goldfish too. Pics of a cute kid having a ball feeding the fish and we enjoy a quiet stroll to the van with Lai Lan filling our heads with enough facts that I need to stop here to unload them to make room in my sparse brain capacity for more tomorrow.In 2003 Hangzhou was named international garden city and considered a paradise on earth. There is a saying: “in heaven there is paradise, on earth there is Hangzhou and Suzhou.” And rightfully so… it is one of the lushest cities I have ever visited. It is also the tea capital of china with over 1000 tea houses in the city. Additionally, It is called the Lovers Capital since thousands of couples come to Hangzhou every year on honey moons or to celebrate their engagement.
West Lake was dredged by Su Dong Po the mayor of Hengzhou in 1089 who was so revered by the people that when asked what they could do to honor him, he declined but asked for some pork cooked in wine. The city presented him with a delicacy that to this day is called Dong Po Pork, Cooked in a clay pot with sweet wine and a heavy fat back [there’s that fat again] it is the favorite dish of the Hangzhou public.
The last fact leads us to dinner at Lou Wai Lou restaurant, established in 1874. One of its claim to fame is that Richard Nixon ate here, and with all due respect to the left… the one shining thing he did during his presidency was to open up relations with China. The rest is for History to decide. The second thing it’s famous for is it’s Beggars Chicken and Don Po Pork, both preceded by a 1st course of fried tofu skin w/sweet bean jam that was excellent.
Beggars Chicken, is a whole chicken wrapped in several layers lotus leaf, then saran wrap, then a cloth bag and tied with twine and finally packed in fresh clay and thrown into the fire. When the clay cracks, its done and is unwrapped table side. The aroma is overwhelming and the meat, having cooked in its own juices accented by the lotus leaf is falling off the bone with a flavor that is incredible. And of course then came the Dong Po Pork cooked in a clay pot with sweet potato slivers and a taste fit for an Emperor. It was accompanied by a doughy pillow. We were supposed to de-fat the pork and wrap it in the pillow but we were so busy slurping down the pork that it was gone before the waiter told us what to do with the dough…. Oh welllll it sure sopped up the juice well enough. and of course… beer good. Definitely a ****+ meal
Nothing could top this and it has been a very long day so we happily headed to the hotel where we navigated the balky internet system and got a NOWAT out before I crashed with anticipation of the cruise on West Lake scheduled for tomorrow.
再见朋友
Zài Jiàn Péng-You
Chuck and the very full and fat pork satisfied
Dragon Lady
