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Friday, December 26, 2008

Hangzhou Day 2

We started our half day tour the following morning by waking up around 9am. After getting ourselves ready we head out to hunt for breakfast. We asked the hotel reception for recommendation but somehow we never able to reach the place. So, on the way we settled on this place. Not too bad as it is just across our hotel. Max Xu our driver (occasionally he will explain to us on the history of the place) meet us at the hotel lobby. We started off the tour at Silk processing factory. They also sell merchandise in this place where I got myself some panties since other items are too expensive for my pocket. Thereafter he stop us a this shop selling pearls. I’m not crazed at all since I’m not a pearl fan. I’m more a diamond person (hint to hubby ;).

Next, Max drove us to Lei Feng Ta (Pagoda). Lei Feng pagoda (is a five story tall tower with eight sides, located on Sunset Hill south of the West Lake) was built at the order of King Qian Chu (born Qian Hongchu) of Wuyue. It was built to celebrate the birth of Qian Chu's son, born to Huang Fei, one of his favorite concubines. The 1st original structure wasn’t there which only leaves the base structure. The collapse of the pagoda is due to one of the reasons that the locals beliefs that bricks from the tower could repel illness or prevent miscarriage, thus believing in this supersitious many people stole bricks from the tower to grind into powder. Later in 2002, the govt built a replica of it.

The ceiling of the pagoda

Dad been here during his land tour and Zach was sleeping. So, Dad offer to baby sit Zach and MH and I went up to the Pagoda. We can see the whole lake of Xi Hu and is beautiful and serene.We spend about an hour there and by time we met Dad again, Zach is awake from his afternoon nap. So we decide to stop by at the nearby restaurant to have some snack. We ordered spring roll with lotus roots as stuffing and a bowl of fish soup to share. Not too bad but the service sucks. After taking our order, we noticed some waiters sleeping outside and when my Dad went in to use their toilet, he claims that all the waiters are sleeping! When we ask for some chilli sauce, they took some time to serve us and when finally brought the chilli we had a shock as they just slam it on the table. Mind you, it’s a glass table. Lucky it didn’t break.

Next Max drove to Dreaming of the Tiger Spring at Hupao. We spend about an hour there. History about this place was a monk who happens to find this place and later he decided to leave as there's no water to survive. So one day God tells him that he will be able to survive as a pair of tiger will show him the water source. Hence, the following day he stumble upon 2 tiger digging on the ground and this is where the spring water originates and the well is found. Till todate, locals throng to this place to collect the sprint water.
This was the originated well. It was preserverd and sealed. Water is still crystal clear as we can see thru the glass panel.
A pool of spring water flowing down from the originated well.
I'm a little teapot short and stout, here is MH and Zachary, when we are steam up hear we shout.....!
Dad was curious and seeing this healthy old man drinking and collecting the spring water. he drank some too. This man told us not to worry much on drinking the water as it’s very safe and clean. Looks like he has been here collecting water many times. Anyway, we did try drinking some and it was very sweet and refreshing. I just had a few mouthful and that’s it. Very skeptical if my tummy can stomach in and I do not want to end up having diarrhea during this trip :p. Anyway, Dad was keen in bringing the water back to boil for his tea. So, I use Zach drinking bottle and see how clear the water is. We went up to the well and I can’t deny the water is crystal clear. Apparently, few centuries back the well water is use to boil the Longjing tea and it seems that it will gives off a very sweet and nice aroma. So Dad was very curious and brought it back to hotel to try. Verdict, no difference from the hotel tap water..ahaha…
After which, Max brought us to the Longjing Tea village to buy some high grade tea (I aint an expert in tea so I can’t qualify if they are high grade tea). Anyway, we end up buying 2 packs after some tea tasting on different grades. We bought their so call middle range to suit our requirement and pocket too. Here’s MH pulling some water from the well.Somewhere in the tea village, we came across locals washing their clothes at a pond using traditional ways. With a stick looks like a bat, they hit the clothes like how I use to hit cockroaches. I shall post a video (not me hitting cockroaches!) on the ladies washing clothes.Max drop us off at our hotel lobby around 5:30pm. We went back to hotel to freshen up before heading out for dinner. We had a simple dinner somewhere near our hotel. I bought some snacks as starters before our main meal and this is what we had. It was grilled in perfection. It was still early, and we decide to visit Qing HeFang Historical St (Qing Hefang Lishi Jie) most of the shops and stalls are selling local knicks knacks. Dad bought some green tea and I came back empty handed. Dad took the opportunity to take a photo with this man while buying the tea from him.He felt the old tradition clothes are rarely seen these days. It was an enjoyable walk as many things to see and Zach was curious with all the lightings and as usual busy people watching. When we reach the entrance of Qing Hefang, we were warmly greeted by a smiling and laughing Buddha.

MH with the Laughing Buddha

Dad, Me and Zach

Another closed up photo of Zach and Mummy touching the Laughing Buddha tummy.
We spend about an hour and the night is still early. So we thought of heading to another shopping street but it turns out like our pasar malam. Nothing interesting and I have nothing to buy. It was so crowded and jam pack with people. So we decide to leave the place early and back to our hotel to rest and call it a night. Before sleep, Zach was playful and he was crawling all over the bed and playing with the mirror. He does know he's on vacation.

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