Hangzhou, China

We arrived in Hangzhou in the evening and as luck would have it our hotel had a massage parlour. Since Lara loved her foot massage so much she convinced six more of us to get a foot massage with her. Since massages are only $10 it's hard to say no. Lara, Tim, Chloe, Natalie, May Fong, Margaret and I all partook in a foot massage. This massage was actually comfortable compared to the beating I got a few days prior. We didn't inquire with our tour guide if the massage parlour was a regular massage parlour or if it gave irregular massages. But, considering all of the masseuses were 20 year old girls, there were beds in the private rooms, and my masseuse was silent but her eyes were saying "600 yuan for a special night", I'm reasonably confident there are some shady dealings in the massage parlor. We (Lara and I) went to bed after our massages and totally passed out.

First thing in the morning we went to the West Lake in Hangzhou. The West Lake is a beautiful lake in the city of Hangzhou. It is considered the most beautiful lake in China and is displayed on the 1 yuan bill. Our tour of the lake was on a medium sized, glass enclosed tour boat. Our guides gave us a short lecture on the boat prior to getting on and were quiet as we putted around the lake. A Chinese tour leader was not so quiet. Even though she was only leading 10 people, all of which were within 10 feet of her, she still felt she needed a loudspeaker to talk to all of them, for the entire 1 hour boat ride. We kindly asked our tour leader to ask the other tour leader to turn off the speaker. She kindly did not. Being the diplomatic statesman that I am, I thought it would only be nice if I stood in front of the window they were looking out and give them a tour. The Chinese group didn't appreciate my tour and she kept on talking. Whatever. The lake was very picturesque and despite the frigid weather we enjoyed the tour.

After the lake tour we were taken to a tea plantation. The tea plantation was the standard tourist dog and pony show. First we were shown how tea was dried, then we had a tea tasting, and when that was over we were offered to purchase tea. The show wasn't that great, especially since the room we were in wasn't heated and the thermometer inside read 13' C. But, the area was beautiful, especially since it had snowed the night before and the tops of the hills were dusted with snow. We stayed the obligatory one hour and then departed for the Yellow Dragon Cave.

I'm not really sure what to call the Yellow Dragon Cave. The Yellow Dragon Cave wasn't a cave at all, it was a complex of buildings all for art or astrological purposes. There were statues everywhere, all of which had some sort of fortune tied to them. At one end of the complex was a stage where a Chinese opera was being conducted. I've heard a few Chinese operas on my trip and I can attest that they aren't very good. They are a hybrid of a cat dieing and nails against a chalkboard. As we watched the opera though an older man approached Lara and asked her if she spoke English. The old man used to be an English teacher and wanted to speak English with Lara. The two of them talked for a few minutes and by the time we said good-bye a crowd had gathered to watch the conversation. Apparently, English speakers aren't too common around here. Also at the Yellow Dragon Cave are some neat bamboo gardens including some bamboo that is square shaped. We made a few wishes at a nearby wishing well and then departed the cave. Definitely a good stopping point.

The Yellow Dragon Cave was our last stop before our departure from Hangzhou. From the Yellow Dragon Cave the bus took us to Shanghai. The drive was 3 hours and pretty interesting. The road was new and fairly nice. Along the road the entire 200km or so is the construction of an elevated high speed train that will connect Hangzhou with Shanghai. The train will make the journey in 45 minutes instead of the 3 hours it took us. Also on the side of the road was lots and lots of poor villages. Some looked like they hadn't been touched in centuries and some were in the process of being torn down. The trip definitely showed us the state that China is in. In the evening we arrived in Shanghai.