We bought bus tickets for an about a dollar to Hangzhou, we arrived safely and with no police involvement. Penny's friend had offered a free place for us to stay but after the gas station incident and the police visit to Penny's house we decided to go the hotel route this time. The hotel registers you with the government which saved us from having to wait in a long line at the police station. Again lots of security present. SWAT guy was stationed at our elevations 24/7 with a fingerprint scanner. Photo below is change of shift for some of the street security.
The hotel was located fairly close (about a mile) to the famous West Lake and a metro stop and even had a very soft mattress. The only drawback was that it was so hot - no more mountain breezes or cool streams to cool things down just a little. All 3 days were 100° or higher. A lot of sweating on my part and it wasn't lady-like at all. We walked to the nearest massage place - I got a good focused masseuse but Penny got a lazy guy that was whining all the time. Second time I went back I got the lazy one- didn't return for a third.
That evening we finally joined up with Penny's friend and her husband for a hot pot dinner in the QianJiang New District of Hangzhou. The restaurant had AC but with 4 small fires under the individual hot pots I didn't get to dry off much - I am just glad the beer has lots of water in it.
Besides increased security, internet blocking, and travel monitoring, one of the biggest differences between Hangzhou of '06 and '08 is how modern the buildings have gotten, especially in this newer part of town. The shapes .....
Representing the The Sun
The Moon
Hangzhou's QianJiang New City - "Bund Wanna Be"
We hopped into our hosts' FIRST generation -(2005) Honda Fit. You don't see many old cars in China. The most common being the VW brand - but I was surprised to see a lot of new larger Buicks, and the smaller models of Chevys and Fords. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/motoring/2014-03/26/content_17376010.htm Car prices here are comparable but the license plate and taxes can increase the prices by 50%.
We rode back to the older part of Hangzhou and around West Lake. A lot of roads were blocked off due to dignitaries in town. They must have been really big-wigs because they were riding around in the Rare Chinese luxury car called the HongQi (meaning red flag)
Tomorrow is a trip down memory lane...... a visit to ZUFE, the university where I taught and where Penny attended.