Sunday, 18 September 2016
China: Day 6 - Wuxi to Hangzhou
We packed up and prepared to depart from Wuxi, but first Christine (and David) took us to a pearl shop. Another sales presentation where they showed us how they crack open the cultured oysters and find over 30 or 40 pearls in each oyster. The oyster they opened for us was 5 years old (from counting the rings) and contained 35 fesh water pearls. A wild oyster would only have one. Brenda made a small purchase and then we left the noisy sales room (I think all the sales staff worked on commission. They were pushy and the less interested you appeared the faster the price dropped)
We said goodbye to Christine and headed on a 3 hour drive to Hangzhou. Our schedule prevented us from reaching a good restaurant for lunch, so we stopped at a roadside truck stop / service station. It looked like a favourite spot for travellers on the highway. There were a large number of fast food vendors, a dining room, and washrooms. The men's and ladies toilets were separate, but the sinks for washing were in a large common room. The best part was a sign at the entrance to the men's rpoom "Take a small step forward for a giant leap toward civilization". Apparently the men are less endowed than they think.
After about a 3 hour trip, we reached the West Lake in Hangzhou ("hawn-zhoo"). We stopped at the Shangri-la Hotel (pronounced "Shangri Leelaw " according to Christine) for a bathroom break. This was apparently the hotel that Vladimir Putin stayed in while attending the recently completed G20 Summit.
We immediately boarded a small boat for a cruise around the lake. About 40 - 45 minutes. We circled but didn't stop at a couple of man made islands in the centre of the lake.
After supper we were scheduled to attend a light show on the lake, but apparently the government decided to shut it down for a while after the G20. As an alternative we went downtown to a live theatrical and dance theater. It was a very good display of lights, sound effects, traditional singing, dance and theatrics. Very colourful.
We arrived at our hotel - White Horse Lake Jan Guo Hotel - which was apparently one of the main hotels used by delegates to the G20.
I have to admit the hotels we have stayed in have all been first class. Plus the meals have been good to very good. They admitted to adjusting the food to our palettes, so today we all (18 of us in the group) asked for some more authenticity. Well, maybe not all of us, but our evening meal was amazing. A duck soup, 3 or 4 different vegetables, cubed and fried pork, a steamed fish, chicken in a soy based sauce. It was all different from what we have seen, and somewhat suprisingly I enjoyed most of it - except for the crappy Chinese red wine.
Hanzhou is a terminal of the Grand Canal.
