Hangzhou

(re-post from jenderle.modevia.com)
Since today and yesterday consisted of more orientation and some more Pinyin lessons, much the same as Monday, I'll take this time to talk some about Hangzhou. Hangzhou is a very touristy city. They get many Chinese visitors from all over the country. When I say touristy you might think of cities like New York or Orlando. Yes, there is much more traffic than these cities, but Hangzhou is very different from these places. The main draw here in Hangzhou is West Lake and all the parks. Hangzhou was the capital of one of the ruling dynasties about 400 years ago. There is an area of 3 monuments located in the middle of Hangzhou that appears on the Chinese "1 dollar bill." You can see a few of these monuments in some of my pictures. That is where our boat ride was out to. Our rower told us to take a picture of everyone there, because it is a very famous place. He even made sure to duck down so he wasn't in the picture. We learned a lot more about the history of Hangzhou from our Pinyin teacher. There are a few pictures of our class in the photo album. She told us some more about these monuments. They were constructed at a time when West Lake was dirty and things were going wrong in the city. The monuments were built to quash the evil spirits of the Lake, and repell them. She also told us about the legends behing the two large towers of the city, maybe I will tell those stories at a later time. Hangzhou is known for its silk and its tea. Our Pinyin teacher's sister owns a tea house and has her own tea patch. We go to her tea house to learn Pinyin and every time we get large plates of free fruit. The tea house is located next to a beautiful park. Those are the pictures I uploaded a few days ago.

After Pinyin lessons we went to Hangzhou teacher college. There was a beautiful pond with some beautiful buildings. We got to eat supper with two Chinese men who had just graduated from college. We learned a great deal from them, and it was very encouraging to our work here. The total for a big meal for 10 people came out to be only $12 american dollars! unbelievable.

It was very hot and humid today so I'm going to bed early. A few people went out for KTV, or Karaoke. My stomach has been feeling a little funny, all the food has been great though. And if you don't like something you just try one of it, and eat more of the stuff you like. Uncle Mark told me my stomach might be upset from the one bite of pig's liver I tried. I believed him. My body has been a little sore too. James and I have done some running, and I've done a lot of walking wearing sandals, which may have all played a part in it. The beds are also very stiff which I think my play a part in it also. Thats all for today, tomorrow I should have lots to share, we are heading out to Shanghai. Goodnight.

Posted by James Enderle at 07:39 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)