On the Other Side of the World and Back

REPUBLISHED: Taiwan Preview

2011-02-13T13:13:00.003-05:00

EDIT: I don't know how the following post written April 2009 got into my unpublished drafts but here it is re-published for your reading pleasure.

wild cherries on Alishan in full bloom, in mid-march
While I continue to work on the final leg of the South East China tour, I'll let you take a look at beautiful Taiwan! (did you know that the Portuguese name of Taiwan "Formosa" actually translates to "beautiful" island? Got that from Wikipedia, I will have to confirm w/ a Portuguese friend later). The following is the full draft for my article for the student Standard (marketed towards highschool students) to be published on April 30. Sneak peek, yay! Don't worry I will provide a detailed entry and photos for each spot in subsequent posts. :) And travel tips too, should you wish to make your own trip to Taiwan. I found this 4-day itinerary to be extremely worth my money, even though extremely exhausting but I got to see as much as I could in the little time that I had in Taiwan. Compliments to my uncle!

Touring Taiwan, from North to South and to the Highest Point.

Raise your hands. Have you ever explored a country outside of the big city in a few short days? I had the pleasure of exploring the island of Taiwan with the goal of visiting the county’s most northern and southern points as well as its highest point. Follow me as I journey through tropical climates, mountains, rural towns and villages and finally to the big city of Taipei.

The Southern-most Point: Eluanbi

The quest to reach the Southern most point of Taiwan brings me to Cape Eluanbi within the Kenting National Park. Once inside the park, easy hiking trails take you through rich and abundant landscapes with the most stunning views of Taiwan’s south coast. Following the trail, you will be taken through forests, hills and caves. The coastline of Cape Eluanbi consists of rugged coral terrain covered with lush green vegetation and clear blue sea water. This is the exact location of the southern most point of Taiwan. Eluanbi is also home to the Eluanbi lighthouse. At 21.4 metres high, it is the brightest lighthouse in Asia and often referred to as the “Light of East Asia”. Within the town of Kenting, the streets are lined with hotels and resorts, restaurants as well as the night market with stalls selling food, souvenirs and other items.

The Highest Point: Alishan

Alishan is a range of mountains and national park located in Chiayi County, a small town in Southern Taiwan. Alishan is a popular tourist spot and is a landmark of Taiwan. By bus or private car, it is about a 2 hour ride up the mountain but if you have the time, I would recommend taking the famous Alishan Forest Railway. Although the train ride takes a total of 3.5 hours to reach the top, it is extremely worthwhile as you can view the scenery from cliffs and mountains to scenic villages and tea plantations. Other things of interest on Alishan include hiking trails through the forests, resorts, waterfalls and a variety of interesting flora and fauna. Be sure to check out the wild cherry blossoms at full bloom in springtime!

The Northern-most point: Fuguei Cape

The Fuguei Cape lighthouse located north of Taipei marks the northern most tip of

Taiwan

. Be careful of the strong winds though, as waves from the East China Sea, crash violently against the coast.

Taipei

A trip to Taiwan is not complete without a visit to the capital, Taipei. There are many attractions within the city. The most popular is Taipei 101, the tallest skyscraper in the world. The observatory on the 89^th floor offers a 360 degree view of the city and the open air deck on the 91st floor allows you to experience standing atop of the world’s tallest building. Another popular attraction in Taipei is the National Palace Museum. It contains a collection of ancient Chinese artifacts taken from Forbidden City in Beijing, which once belonged to

China

’s ancient Emperors. For shopping and food lovers, there are various night markets in Taipei. The largest and most famous is the Shilin night market selling Taiwanese street food and snacks as well as non-food items and games. Don’t forget to make a visit to Ximending, a very popular shopping district in Taipei for more shopping or going to the movies.

The Return of the Blog??

2011-02-12T11:20:00.005-05:00

I was really moved to find that people from all continents (maybe except Antarctica) still visit even though I no longer update. Thank you Google Analytics for the info! I also have a lot of spare time these days. Perhaps I should start sharing again? Travel Guides anyone? From September to early October 2010 I went on a few trips to Hong Kong, Macau Japan and Singapore and got some excellent photos! Stay tuned.

The main building of the Kiyomizu-dera (clear water temple). One of my favourite temples in Kyoto, Japan.
Cleverly named after the waterfall that lies nearby, it is a Buddhist temple dating back to 798.
It is one of the largest structures made ENTIRELY out of wood (not a single nail is used)
and is a UNESCO world heritage site (one of many in Kyoto). The building itself dates back to 1633.

Hello from HK again!

2010-09-07T22:32:00.002-04:00

Just a quick hello from hot and humid Hong Kong! Today's forecast calls for a chance of thundershowers with a high of 31 degrees (which is right now and with humidity it's 46 degrees Celsius..eww). I don't think I'll be going on many outdoor excursions this time around...it's way too hot to be outside! But that won't stop me from taking pictures of anything and everything Asian! Stay tuned!

I didn't take this picture (my brother did) but I really like it! HK on a clear night with 8s exposure

p.s I have upgraded to a 12 megapixel camera (no more 4 megapixels yay!)

Sunday

2009-08-30T19:07:00.000-04:00

Our Lady of Carmel Church in Macau
captured in perfect lighting! :)

A little reminder to myself to go to church (or start going) more often. I hope you had a great weekend.

What happened to summer?

2009-08-29T12:53:00.000-04:00

Nothing better on a hot day than getting wet!
Taken outside Taipei 101 back in March 2009 where the temperature was tropical.

A week ago, it was 30 degrees with 90% humidty. Yesterday it was chilly and windy. Has summer already left us? :(.

On Birds and Business (I seem to like aliteration lol)

2009-08-27T12:14:00.000-04:00

Mong Kok's Bird Garden:
A place where old men bring their pet birds to hang out and show off.
Many types of interesting and exotic birds are on display as well.

It's so funny how businesses in Hong Kong all seem to congregate together. If you want to look for travel agencies they are all located on 1 (or 2 ) floors in the same building. There is a WHOLE mall of stores solely devoted to weddings and whole streets and neighbourhoods of furniture or home renovation or the like. Sure makes shopping convenient and maybe that is why Hong Kong is a mecca for shopping! Another example pictured above, is the Bird Garden in Mong Kok.

Instant Noodles

2009-08-26T00:36:00.000-04:00

Having a quick (only 10 mins to devour this) instant noodle break during a weekend hike with the Uncle.
Look at the price! (40HKD ~ $6+ CAD). This is what happens when you eat in the middle of nowhere!

Instant noodles and I were meant to be today! Not only was I having a conversation with someone about how I have not had instant noodles in many months (except for when I ordered them in Hong Kong) and as a result had a craving for instant noodles. I also found this picture AND I found out that my family has finally stocked up on them. Yay. Now I can eat instant noodles for tomorrow!

[Edit:] I did end up eating instant noodles this afternoon! :)

Porkchop cont'd

2009-08-24T08:57:00.000-04:00

Have you EVER seen a pig swimming? I haven't. Did you even know that pigs could swim? I haven't even seen many pigs in my lifetime.
It was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity to see! lol

Oops I seemed to have missed a day and therefore I owe 2 photos today!

It's unfortunate that Porkchop ended up in the water. His owner lured him with a piece of bread to the edge of the pier and kicked him off. I was playing with my something on my camera and the next thing I knew, there was a splash and some gasps and a pig swimming. Porkchop wasn't too happy with this arrangement though. He swam and hid under the pier for a while and my Uncle reports that he was crying. Poor porkchop! He was so upset that when his owner tried to call him to shore, he refused. It looks like he was having some trouble climbing up on those slippery wet rocks.

Meet Porkchop!

2009-08-22T16:32:00.000-04:00

Meet porkchop, the pet pig of this Sai Kung resident.
His owner is trying to entice him with a piece of bread and very funny things happen afterwards.
To be continued...

Yesterday at the drive-in movie theatre, I met this super sweet and fluffy dog that was named Drumstick and totally reminded me an encounter with the above photo. The photo sucks but it is the first in a series of events that happened shortly after the photo was taken (which I will continue tomorrow).

Toronto, Tornados and Taiwan

2009-08-21T17:09:00.000-04:00

Cape Eluanbi: on a portion of the hiking trail at Kenting National Park in Taiwan.
Overlooking Taiwan's South coast, I have pretty much fallen in love with this place!
It was as if I was in a dream when I saw it.

Yesterday was the storm of the year in Toronto. A tornado touched down in Vaughn, just north west of the city. It went dark, thunder and lightning crashing violently and then a downpour. Thunderstorms are usually fun to watch from the safety of my home. It was just too hard to accurately capture it on camera, however I did manage to get a shot of the sky afterward (refer to facebook photo). Not only was there a full rainbow but the sky was tinted yellow!

As exciting as it was, I bet it wasn't as bad the tornado that hit Southern Taiwan last week. Poor citizens and pigs (apparently many died from the Tornado)! My heart and prayers goes out to Tainan.

Speaking of Taiwan, there's a Taiwanfest in Toronto next week, which sounds really neat and I am so excited to go because I love Taiwan! :)

CNE opening tomorrow!

2009-08-20T13:26:00.000-04:00

The Tram: a Hong Kong version of the Toronto Streetcar.
It is double deckered, open windows and affectionately known to the locals as "Ding Ding"

Don't forget that the CNE (in Toronto) opens tomorrow and in celebration of its 175th birthday, admission is only $1.75. YAY! And apparently the first 175 people get free birthday cupcakes from the cupcake tent.

Gluttony

2009-08-20T01:28:00.000-04:00

Hiking is one of my Uncle's preferred past-times (I think..).
On a fun hiking trail from yellowstone pier in Sai Kung , Hong Kong

Today, I realized that I had 2 desserts (Chinese and Western) once before dinner and then after. Who could resist chocolate mousse cake? mmmm! Now I feel the need to burn off some of those calories. I suck at working out, I just get so bored. I think the only exercise I was able to sustain was going on hikes w/ my Uncle on the weekends. It's fun and challenging trying to keep up with him. He puts the 20 year olds to shame with his skills! His activities always give me quite the workout!

Hazy Day

2009-08-18T12:22:00.000-04:00

Sai Kung, a unique spot in Hong Kong known for it's white sandy
(and sometimes deserted) beaches, clear blue water and layers upon layers of mountains.

It's a pretty hazy day today in Toronto, but still as hot and humid as ever. I don't ever remember Hong Kong's humidity being THIS bad. It was also a hot hazy day when I went to the place where the above photo was taken. Not the best day for pretty pictures but the white sandy beach and clear blue water (I know I know, we're not talking about the Caribbean kind of clear!) was beautiful.

A photo a day

2009-08-17T19:02:00.000-04:00

On a trail on one of the many remote islands of Sai Kung, Hong Kong.
I miss being able to access the ocean, mountains, islands all within an hour!

Because I've lost all motivation to keep up with writing about my travels which I still owe you and because I realize I express myself better through pictures, I thought I'd upload a picture a day as a way to continue sharing my pictures with you. It would be selfish to keep them all to myself.

Another photo contest entry

2009-08-13T16:57:00.000-04:00

photo taken at Stanley Beach in Hong Kong 2009

You've probably seen this photo before, but I have just entered it in Facebook's Amateur Photography Contest (note: not an official facebook contest, just a Facebook group with a weekly photography theme). This week's theme is sand and sandcastles. One of the contest rules is that photos must be taken with a point and shoot camera, which is what I only have so it works. And I've been getting votes. Yay!

I finally won something!

2009-07-19T15:31:00.000-04:00

I finally made a WIN with this picture, taken from the balcony of my dad's Hong Kong apartment for a facebook group. YAY! The them this week was city streets.

I promise to keep updating this blog...eventually. I hate to not finish what I started. :)

Foodventures!

2009-06-10T00:55:00.000-04:00

It's about time I made a new post about something. So I've started a new blog with a fellow Asian traveller. It's not exactly about Asia although some asian food will make occasional appearances. It's called Foodventures (yea, so I love that extremely cheesy name!) and it's all about..food! yay. It'll be fully up and running soon. I think we are still tweeking some things.

I've also added a "chatterbox" to your lower right, for us to have random convos on here, just for fun! :)

Nanjing: the "Southern Capital"

2009-06-09T20:50:00.000-04:00

below: Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge and city smog.
The last leg of the China journey brings me to Nanjing. One of the 4 ancient capitals of China, it literally means "Southern Capital" (Beijing is the northern capital, the other 2 were Luoyan and Chang'an now known as Xi'an). Aside from being the capital for six dynasties, it is also the second largest economic centre in South Eastern China next to Shanghai. I didn't spend much time in this city either, but there were some highlights.

Pictured to the left is the Yangtze River Bridge, the first bridge to link North and South Eastern China. It was a significant time in history during the construction of this bridge as it was the first to be was designed and built by the Chinese without any outside help (by that I mean, other countries esp. the Soviet Union). The double deckered bridge took about 8 years to build and crosses the Yangtze River.

Another highlight of Nanjing (which I could not get a picture of b/c cameras were not allowed in) is the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall, commemorating the 300,000 victims killed in the Nanjing Massacre on December 13, 1937 by the Imperial Japanese Army. The Memorial Hall is built near "pit of ten thousand corpses", where thousands of bodies were buried. On the way in to the hall, you will walk across an empty courtyard surrounded by a million grey pebbles representing the thousands of corpses as if you were walking across a thousand bodies. Inside there are even skeletal remains. Puts one in a solemn mood. Our tour guide told us that Japanese tourists do not dare to come to Nanjing for they fear of getting beat up by the Chinese. That is slightly frightening to hear.

The rest of the highlights are captured below:

1.2.3. A look at Nanjing's buildings. They appear to look older than the newly developed parts of the other cities in South East |China (Hangzhou, Suzhou and Wuxi) 4.5.6. Inside the Confucian Temple (Fu Zi Miao), a shopping district like the one in Shanghai. 7. The Qinhuai River, renamed so because Emperor Qin Shuihuang because he wanted to excavate a mountain so that the water could be introduced to the city. It is actually part of the Yangtze River and runs around Nanjing. 8.This man is a famous artist who can paint the inside of a glass ball.. 9. ..to look like this. If you buy his work, proceeds apparently go to charity.

What I do at home all day

2009-05-25T10:41:00.001-04:00

People keep asking me what I do at home now that I am back and unemployed. Still... Sometimes, I don't even know how I pass the time, but time passes rather easily. Actually, you might say time flies!

My Sunday afternoon yesterday consisted of: cutting grass manually to only find out that the electric lawn mower does indeed work almost after the fact in which case I proceeded to repeat the process because the manual one didn't work too well in the first place. *Sigh, never listen to anyone! There goes a free workout and tanning session. Here I am, a few shades darker with a blistered hand, I mean hands. I often forget how much more damaging the sun is here than in Hong Kong. And needless to say, I have already tanned a few during my stay in Hong Kong. It isn't the official beginning to summer yet and I wonder if I will look like another nationality by the end of it.

So far, I am doing ok. No major depression (or jetlag.. anymore) from being away for so long. I think I continue to have a pretty good time in Toronto, mostly because you all make me feel so welcome. :) It's time to get back to real life though, unfortunately.

Oh, and I never finished my story, I also chased a giant bee (of which I lost), attempted to fix a drainage problem (both in my house), had ribs and chicken wings at Montana's and slept for 12 hours! food coma. :p. I think that was the best part, sleeping and of course eating, especially desserts. mmmm.

Speaking of desserts:

Erin and I (and friends) found Cafe Princess! A korean owned coffee shop lined with old fashioned (what I liked to call) 'princess chairs' and floral couches with soft korean love songs playing. And, I couldn't forget about the teddy bears on the window sill. I think we all whipped out the camera and took pictures of the teddies when we spotted them and of course being asian, the stuff we ordered (I think we gave Ryan quite the asian experience right E?).

Pictured above is the Princess Platter. A yummy treat for $14.95. It includes 2 slices of cake (we chose chocolate and strawberry cheesecake), 2 sccops of ice-cream and fruits drizzled with chocolate and strawberry (I think..) sauce. MMMM! Definitely a treat fit for a princess.. or 2.

Home and more blogging

2009-05-19T17:49:00.000-04:00

As of 2 nights ago, I am back in Toronto, my home and heart. I am excited to be back because I have you, my friends to come home to. I miss Hong Kong though where my extremely cute and happy family are, cheap eats and convenient life style. But I don't belong there. So, it's really nice to be back where I belong. :).

From exploring the city, to island hopping, eating yummy food, finding cheap and I mean CHEAP bargains to learning about disownage and experiencing death, I feel as if I could've gotten more; more food, more shopping, more travelling. But then again, you can never get enough of Asia.

And to bring me more of Asia is Teren who has returned to his motherland for the first time in five years like me! He will be my eyes in Malaysia for the next few weeks. Visit him here at www.terenteh.com/travel for his experiences in the far east including Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. BTW thanks for the link buddy! :) I think we're going to collaborate on an exciting project to be revealed when we start working on it. YAY so excited.

Speaking of Singapore, meet Ivy of nanyate.com, a blogging friend of mine from way back in the webdesigning days. Well actually, she still webdesigns and I totally gave up. I got the pleasure of meeting her in person at UofT, a super smart and nice girl. Now residing in Singapore she has been selected to be in a blogger challenge for soy joy, a fruit energy bar made in Japan. I had my first soy joy bar at the HKIA before I left. mmm..chocolate flavour. I also brought back a berry one to Toronto. Whoever wants it speak now before it ends up in my tummy! If you look to the right you will see Ivy in the soy joy banner. Please click it and vote for her!

Even though I am home now, I will continue to put up posts b/c as you know I have fallen about 2 months behind in posts and I have done so much since then. Stay tuned for a ton more places and pictures!

New post

2009-05-05T09:22:00.000-04:00

I've been working on this post for wayy too long. New post 2 below.

Following the Grand Canal to Wuxi

2009-04-14T07:41:00.000-04:00

Jichang garden in Xihui Park, Wuxi (typical of a rich family)
An hour and a bit's ride away from Suzhou brings me to another old city in Jiangsu province, Wuxi (literally translates into "without tin"). Founded 3,000 years ago, it was known as Youxi ("has tin") due to the tin deposits found there. But eventually the tin began to run out and the name was changed to Wuxi to ward off people from taking the tin. Now tinless, it becaome known for their pearls grown in Taihu (Lake Tai) and an important centre for the silk industry. It's also called "little Shanghai" due to its rapid development in the last century. I don't really have much to say about this city since I spent relatively little time. But just like all the other ancient cities I've visited in China, there is an old side and a new side. The new Wuxi consists of extremely new looking buildings while old Wuxi consisted of parks with the original residences and gardens of ancient rich chinese families preserved.

1. A boat train on the Grand Canal. This was rather interesting! 2. Xihui Park, also known as the "open air musuem" of the history of Wuxi for its cultural relics contained inside. 3. 4. A look inside the park. 5. Inside Jichang garden, you can see the Longguan pagoda, a landmark of Wuxi. The original one from the Ming Dynasty burnt down during the Qing dynasty and the current one is only a replica. 6. 7. 8. 9. Inside the Jichang Garden 10. The "second best spring in the world" dubbed so by a famous tea sampler in the Tang Dynasty. Apparently the quality of water in this spring is the second best in the world. I'm not sure where the best one is. 11. A really old tree, so old that it needs support. 12. Pearls from Taihu! 13. A giant ferris wheel in the city

Wuzhen; Ancient Water Town

2009-04-11T10:16:00.000-04:00

Lying equidistant between Suzhou and Hangzhou is the water township of Wuzhen. Like Suzhou, the town consists of a canal and alleys running parallel to each other. As Suzhou is becoming more developed, Wuzhen has preserved much of its history and cultural uniqueness setting it apart from the other towns in South Eastern China. There are several water villages such as this in China, Wuzhen located in Zhejiang province was given the title of the Provincial Ancient Town of History and Culture in 1991 ranking it first of the six ancient towns south of the Yangtze River.

Taking a walk along the stone walkways or crossing any of the stone bridges across the canal, one can appreciate the historical charm of this ancient town. The peace, the quiet calm waters, the smell (it even smells old!), the whole atmosphere will make you feel like you are a millennium away. No doubt, the villagers probably still live as if it was 2000 years ago, perhaps with minor improvements (ie. owning a TV!). I watched locals washing their clothes (and even rice!) in the canal. What a sight!

Suzhou, the Venice of China

2009-04-05T23:53:00.001-04:00

A watergate on the Grand Canal, Suzhou
Located in the province of Jiangsu, about 42% of Suzhou (蘇州) is covered in water boasting about 35 kilometres of rivers and 168 bridges. Built in 514 BC, this 2,500 year old city was once lined with narrow streets, alleys and canals, some of which are still intact today.

In ancient times, many buildings could only be reached by boats via canals just like Venice in Europe. Some of these water towns exist in Suzhou today where buildings from the Qingand Ming dynasty still stand. Suzhou is also home to a number of beautiful classic gardens. They are considered to be the best in the world for its natural scenery co-existing with the exquisite man-made architecture of ancient times. Silk production was of great importance to Suzhou and remains so today as the locals of Suzhou still rely on the silk industry for a living. - an excerpt from my article for the (Student) Standard .

1. Entering a walled city gate into a park where we will cruise around the Grand Canal in old Suzhou. 2. This city wall is apparently new (not as ancient as it looks). 3. Cruising along the Grand Canal in Suzhou. It is the longest ancient canal/artificial river in the world running from Hangzhou to Beijing. 4. A watergate in the foreground and a look at the type of boat that takes you on a cruise around the canal. 5. A look at modern architecture in Suzhou. There should be a giant swimming pool inside? Where athletes from Beijing come to practice apparently. 6. A look at the newer part of the city. Crusing along the river you will see old Suzhou on one side and New Suzhou on the other; 2 totally different atmospheres. 7. 8. There really are many bridges along the Grand Canal. 9. This bridge was originally built in 1084 AD and is Suzhou's highest one-arc stone bridge (might possibly be the oldest too!) 10. The Suzhou Museum designed by I.M Pei who also designed the Louvre in Paris (you know, that crystal pyramid?). 11. Inside the Suzhou Museum. 12. Our guide tells us that the art inside the museum isn''t really that exciting or important, we were there to check out the architecture. 13. Inside a silk factory. As mentioned before, silk is an important industry in Suzhou. 14. 15. The museum is built on the former residence of the Prince of Zhong ("Loyal Prince Lee") of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (established during the Taiping Rebellion in China, 1850-1864). 16. The bird's nest of Suzhou at night. It is a concert theater. The lights change different to different colours.

Hangzhou- China's Ancient Paradise on Earth

2009-03-27T03:35:00.000-04:00

below: West Lake with Leifeng Pagoda in the background
Located 180 kilometres southwest of Shanghai is Hangzhou. Named as the most beautiful city in China, it is well known for its natural beauty. Founded during the Qin Dynasty 2,200 years ago, it is listed as one of the 7 Ancient Capitals of China.

Located in the historic centre of Hangzhou, West Lake has put Hangzhou on the map because it is the most beautiful scenic spot in the city...... of over 2,000 years old. It is so beautiful in the spring time that Emperor Qianlong, the fourth emperor of the Qing dynasty fell in love with the area. Today tourists can take a cruise around West Lake where they will be surrounded by hills off in the distance, majestic weeping willows lining the shores, ancient stone bridges and the locals taking a stroll along the causeway.

Also unique to Hangzhou is the production of Longjing tea, in the village of Longjing. Lonjing literally translates to dragon well, because that is the location of a well containing relatively dense water that during rainfall, the lighter rain water would dance on the well water that resembled the movement of a dragon. According to legend, a dragon once lived in the well and was believed to control rainfall. It is said that Emperor Qianlong once visited the village of Longjing where he tasted a cup of Longjing tea in front 18 tea bushes. He loved the tea so much that he designated the tea grown in this area imperial status, fit for royalty.

Located in southwest region of Hangzhou, the village is accessible to vehicles and pedestrians via a tunnel that crosses through three mountains to Longjing, located on the other side. Lined with rows of tea plantations at the foot of the hills, the scenery is breathtaking. Visitors can experience a cup of fresh Longjing tea while taking in the scenery.

1. After a 3.5 hr. bus ride from Shanghai, we finally arrive in the city centre of Hangzhou. I can't help but notice how clean the it is. It is one of the cleanest cities in China (and maybe in the world?) 2.3.4. A look at some of Hangzhou's many beautiful parks. They say that spring is the best time to visit Hangzhou because that is when the flowers and trees are at full bloom. But I found that winter has its own beauty in Hangzhou; it is calm and quiet allowing those who walk through the grounds to be at peace. Come spring, these parks will be flooded with crazy tourists leaving no room to even breathe! (seriously, Chinese tourists can be crazy! :p) 5. The surroundings of the Xintiandi in Hangzhou, a district with upscale bars, cafes and shops. 6. The brass creature floating in the middle of the lake is a buffalo. The scene is named: Golden Buffalo Emerging from West Lake (I did not make this up, there's a sign that says it!). Legend has it that there was a golden buffalo lying at the bottom of the lake who would "emerge" when the Lake ran dry and spread water until it was full again. I couldn't make out the rest of the story, but this is why West Lake has been known as Golden Buffalo Lake since the Han Dynasty. 7. Xihu Tiandi = West Lake Heaven and Earth. This was a bad investment as the night life here in Hangzhou is non-existent unlike Shanghai. 8. That is Su Dong Po (1037-1101), a famous poet of the Song era and the governor of Hangzhou at one point in time. Besides poetry he also wrote about the Chinese iron industry and travel literature in 11th century. 9. A freshly brewed cup of authentic Longjing green tea inside the Longjing Tea Plantation. Produced by hand, it is of exceptional quality for its unique aroma, colour and flavour and great health benefits. It has been given the title of the national tea of China. To get the best taste, do not add boiling water! The temperature should be about 80-85 degrees C. After infusion, you can even eat the tea leaves. 10. The tea leaves are pan fired to stop the fermentation process and therefore the leaves don't dry out and oxidize. This man is famous a world champion of pan firing. He says he is 82 this year but really looks like he's 60. I bet it has something to do with the tea! The first thing that the Chinese do here before anything else in the morning (including going to the bathroom and brushing teeth) is brew themselves a hot cup of tea. No tea means a grumpy person for the rest of the day (kind of like the effects of a lack of coffee in the West). 11. The Longjing village is located on the other side of Fenghuang hill on the west side of West Lake in Hangzhou. In ancient times, travellers would spend days going over the hills to get to the village. The construction of the tunnel crossing through three mountains into Longjing has allowed this unique village and ancient traditions and way of life to be shared with the rest of the world. 12. This is what you get to see on the other side of the tunnel: Hills and hills of tea plants! The women of the village wake up at 3am to start picking leaves until sunrise while the men (like the old man mentioned above) practice their pan firing skills. The tea leaves are pan fired w/ bare hands in a metal pan heated up to about 80-90 degrees. 13. Looking to the South of West Lake is the Leifeng pagoda located on Sunset Hill. The 5- storey octagonal tower was originally built in AD 975 by King Qian Chu of the Wuyue Kingdom to celebrate the birth of his son. It has been rebuilt since 2002 due to its collapse in 1924 and now there are elevators, AC, TVs and speakers inside. lol. 14.15.16. Hangzhou is most famous for its West Lake. It has area of 6.5 square km with 3 causeways allowing visitors across it and surrounded by mountains on 3 sides. I had the pleasure of walking along the Sudi (Su Causeway) built by Su Dong Po in 1089 mentioned above. Here are some sights seen from the boat cruise around the lake. 17. The pointy tower you see in the background is the 7-storey Baochu pagoda located to the North of West Lake on Precious Stone Hill. It was originally constructed in 963 (later reconstructed in 1933) by one of King Qian Chu's minister in the hopes that it would guide his return from a trip to Central China where he was summoned by the Emperor. "Baochu" literally translates into "protect Chu" (Qian Chu). 18. You will see 6 bridges along the whole of West Lake. This one got the best shot! I love the outline of the hills in the background. 19. A view of the city from West Lake (in Old Hangzhou). That is modern Hangzhou. 20. Those are famer's houses supplied by the government in exchange for their farmland. Usually a family of 3 live in one of those giant blocks. Unused areas of the house can be rented out (but not sold). Farmers in South Eastern China have such a good life, they are often very wealthy. 21. An acrobatics night show in Hangzhou. 22. Su Dong Po decided to make stewed pork one day because he was bored. But then a friend came to visit and challenged him to a chess game which made him forget about his cooking until there was a fragrant waft coming from the kitchen and out came what is known today as Dongpo pork, invented by accident.