Our plan today was to explore the original ‘West Lake‘ a half hour walk from the hostel and not a bad one with all the surrounding greenery in spite of the heavy rain. This lake area of Hangzhou is really a fantastic change – more green and feels less crowded. We arrived at the Southern tip of the lake and decided to wind our way along the forest paths and bridges up its Western side. The paths were mostly empty – it was such a pleasure strolling along the wooden paths and over picturesque bridges. We paused to watch 2 guys in a boat with a leaf net fishing leaves and the odd bit of garbage out of the water. Leaves out of a 6.5sq km lake seemed a little pedantic.

We walked out of the park and eventually arrived at the Chinese National Tea Museum. Again it was reasonably empty and we wandered the exhibits while longing for a good ole cup of English Tea ! We still have to get around to a proper tea ceremony – budget depending – but have now at least seen all the teas in China. Just as we were about to leave the rain returned with renewed vigor. The walk back to the lake, around the Northern end, across the immaculate causeway and back to our starting point was a slog. The causeway was the only part of the day that was marred by masses of Chinese tourists. It is a stunning green space but its romantic atmosphere is ruined by hoards of tour groups and golf carts. By the time we got home we were exhausted after around 13km of walking.

Bad news was waiting at reception. Not for all the tea in China could the hostel staff find train tickets. Looks like we have to bus the 1300km to Guangzhou 🙁

[Pictures: V on one of the many bridges around the West Lake]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi