While researching this overseas teaching position I read many, many descriptions of China cities where the schools were located. Invariably the ‘ads’ claimed their city was the most beautiful, most historical, most …. you get the idea. I was truly surprised, when on a cold, rainy and gray day, the West Lake area of Hangzhou lived up to their advertising.
I started out my Saturday by getting on the wrong bus. Now I must defend myself – the bus WAS in the X1 line but was obviously not the X1 express. I am not sure what bus it was but it eventually got me to where I needed to get off. To allay my fears I had the girl next to me read my destination address which was written in Chinese for me. She kindly pawned me off on to two students going to the same stop. Maggie and Frieda, my 2 Chinese volunteer tour guides for the day, were thankfully waiting at the bus stop for me.
We took a couple more buses to get to the West Lake area and rode around part of the lake. We continued our tour of the park on foot and boat. We rode different painted boats to the different islands in the middle of the lake. I have decided that it was good that my first visit to West Lake was during a cold rainy winter day. The crowds were less and you could focus on the design of the park and not just the colors of the soon to be attention grabbing flowers (I recognized tons of potential scene stealing azalea bushes). The details of the park were what struck me. The sidewalks were not just cement sidewalks they were mosaic pebble patterns or brick patterns. There were lots of bridges that were not just functional but also pleasing to look at There were lots of gazebos (not sure what they call them in China) sprinkled in photogenic spots. We saw 3 Chinese wedding parties use these backdrops for what will be some great photos. All the bushes and trees were pruned to appealing shapes. There were so many “Kodak moments” that I was worried I would go thru both camera batteries I had with me.
After the West Lake visit we stopped at KFC for lunch. The menu was augmented with a couple of Chinese items but my chicken sandwich tasted the same as it would have from the KFC on Frederica Road. Qian Lui temple was the next stop of our cultural tour. He was a hero of China. This is where the really pretty pink flowers were blooming. Sorry I do not know the name of the tree but it definitely rivals Washington’s Cherry Blossoms.
I was advised by Ron, my email ZUFE teacher buddy, to get a D ticket for the buses. It would cost less in the long run and save me from carrying 4 coins around all the time. So the next item on our agenda was to go to the packed bus station and fill out a form and stand in a ’line’. Lines are not really lines here sort of like ‘group crowds’. You sort of have to be aggressive to move forward. My size and uniqueness helped in this respect. After this adventure we did what all good girls do in the city---- SHOP. I bought a silk comforter so I could sleep ON the one the school supplied. I now have an extra 3 mm padding on top of their VERY HARD mattress. Chinese mattresses are passable if you are a back sleeper but they are really hard on the hip and shoulder if you are a side sleeper like I am.
To end up the day Maggie and I ate dinner at a Chinese Noodle fast food place. Pretty good. Afterwards Maggie literally walked me on and setttled my large comforter and I in a seat on a correct bus (K401 this time) for the hour long ride back to the Xiasha campus. Great day! Thanks Maggie and Frieda!
