A day-trip to Hangzhou

We are back in Minnesota, although we have only been 'home' for less than 24 hours. I am floating in time and space, as my mind and body slowly catch up to my geographic location. Sleep-wise, my body is wide awake and alert at night and confused by the daylight that my body thinks   sleeping. There are moments when I have to remind myself that eating involves going to the market, rather than walking down any random street and stopping in at any interesting looking 'hole in the wall' restaurant, with a large menu on the wall (in Chinese, of course) a few tables and chairs and hopeful owners, sitting and cutting vegetables into small slivers. On our return, we are once again, struck by size differences- Americans are big and drive big cars, plus lots of open space with trees, grass and even weeds, especially in Minnesota. It is strange to have buildings be 3-5 stories tall with yards and open space between the buildings.  So, for us it is a time of transition and vibrating between two very different lands and cultures. 

In this liminal state, I will talk about our day trip to Hangzhou, a smaller town about 1 hour by fast train, west of Shanghai. (Small is a relative term here- the population of Hangzhou is about as large as the population of the entire state of Minnesota, or the city of New York, according to Bruce- who is a Sociologist and pays attention to such details.). Hongzhou is reputed to be a city of beauty because of the harmony among the water, mountains and greenery.  It sits on the edge of Lake Tai (Tai Hu), one of the largest natural lakes in China, and in many ways feels like a city with a spirit and culture quite different from both Shanghai and Beijing. 

Photos and lotus pond - Lake Tai (Tai Hu) 

The train ride was simple, fast and easy. including getting tickets.  China has an amazing public transportation infrastructure and trains leave from huge but clean and well organized stations (at least in Shanghai), cover distances at high speeds and are actually more comfortable than flying. We traveled through a relatively flat landscape (the mountains begin on the western side of the lake), but filled with steep roofed houses that looked almost like western castles.  Arriving in Hongzhou, I was struck by the sparseness of English translations to help guide non-Asian visitors around the city or as they took public transportation (which consisted of a few metro lines and many busses.) Thanks to our handy iPhone maps, we made our way to the lake, a short 10 minute walk away. Tai Hu is a beautiful lake, well landscaped with many wide walking paths on the side nearest the city and what looked like green mountains with occasional pagodas or temples on the furthest side of the lake.

The day we went, we were greeted by hoards of people walking, eating, sitting or waiting to board one of the many 'old time pleasure boats' that traversed the lake. As one of the few non-Asians, we met a local young man and his friend who wanted to practice their English speaking skills. (While this might sound like a potential scam, I think they were both sincere. See Bruce's blog entry for more details about the conversation). They took us to the local academy of art where we admired the architecture of the building and visited an exhibit of the student's final design projects.   From there, we headed out, on our own to find the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Museum. Stopping for lunch along the way at a small restaurant with very friendly owners. (The man who cooked smiled at us alot and the women who waited on us, offered to take us where we wanted to go in our 'playing' e.g. exploring.)

Roof and courtyard of the TCM museum 

Mixing healing teas at the TCM museum

The museum, was located in the middle of a craft and arts focused walking street, in a old building half-way down a small side alley. The first floor of the museum, was an actual 'pharmacy' where young professionals mixed herbs into to healing mixtures for customers. The museum itself, was excellent with surprisingly good English translations.  TCM is a very complex and subtle system of healing, based on the internal balance of energy within the body, and in relationhip to environmental influences. Balance is often restored by ingesting live and dried plants, parts of animals , and minerals  to help the body restore internal harmony and balance. 

Walking street with trees 

More views of the walking street

From the museum, we decided to wander toward the train station (it was getting late, and we knew there would be no available seats on later trains). We followed a very long and tree covered walking street, filled with shops, booths with non-touristy items for sale as well as small stands where you could get small snacks of dumplings, grilled meats or fruit juices. Findng the subway easily, thanks to our iPhone maps, we decided to stop at a 'cultural square' on the way to the station, expecting more traditional and folk crafts on display.

Dancing next to the Grand Canal

We arrived to discover that the cultural square was  large complex of museums, performance centers- so high culture rather than traditional culture. The various buildings urround, of course a large green area, filled with children playing monitored by attentive grandparents.  Suddenly, I heard music, and following my ears discovered a couple dancing to what sounded like traditional Chinese music next to a large canal, being traversed by barges moving in both directions through the deep cool water. The dancing couple, seemed to be fully engrossed in what they were doing, almost oblivious to the small group of people watching (including us). The moved with expressive and graceful arm and hand movements, under tall spreading tree branches and to music being transmitted from a fairly large speaker system. It was beautiful to see their complete abandon to and involvement in their dancing. After about 20 minutes, they glanced at their watches, packed up and left. (The woman had a small sweet smile on her face as she carted off the large speaker system in her backpack). This was both a lovely and frequent experience where ever we have traveled and explored in China.  Small group of people, usually women, gather in whatever available space they can find, to turn on music and dance together. It is always a delightful surprise.


Behind the dancers was another amazing sight-the Grand Canal- which connects Beijing to Lake Tai. It is the largest human made waterway in the world, linking the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers. Construction of the Grand Canal was started in the 5th century and it still functions as a vast watery highway today. We watched many immense barges sputtering toward Beijing or Hangzhou behind the two dancers. Most barges had living quarters in the front and back of the boat, with a flatt middle area for whatever it was transporting. In contrast to this ancient transport system, were tall modern apartment buildings piercing the sky. We sat and watched as the sun slowly set and then, reluctantly made our way back to the train station to go home.  There is so much more I wanted to see in this city, hopefully we will be able to return and explore further (and with clearer weather so we can see and hike in the mountains on the other side of the lake).