Trip to Hangzhou!

     Not long after our internships started, one of my friends and I made a trip out to the beautiful Hangzhou! Although Hangzhou may not be a city well known to foreigners, however, it is well worth the visit. In my opinion, Hangzhou is the most aesthetically pleasing and scenic city I have been to in Eastern China, and I'm sure the pictures I took will make it obvious why!

The sun setting on West Lake

     Since we only had the weekend to see Hangzhou, we decided to explore the famous West Lake first, being that it was a must-see for the both of us. We started the walk around the lake around sunset, which made for spectacular views and pictures. It was a real pleasure to finally see some mountains (I didn't realize how much I would miss the mountains back home), in pair with the many pagodas that encircled the lake (I think you can visit the pagodas during the day for a small fee).
     After the sun set, we wandered around the lake until we found a higher end restaurant that served local dishes. However, I would warn against eating near the West Lake; there aren't that many options, and although the food was flavorful and well made, it was far too expensive for what it was (probably because of its proximity to the lake).                                                                                                                                                                

A pagoda seen on our walk around West Lake

      The next day, my friend and I decided to spend time at an attraction that wasn't so famous, and settled on the Xixi Wetlands. Since I came to Hangzhou specifically to see nature, I felt as if the Xixi Wetlands was a much better place to spend the day at compared to the West lake; there seemed to be more more flora and fauna in and around the wetland, in addition to being overall more quiet and calming. Also, there are many different attractions in the wetland; after wandering through the ponds and the reeds, listening to older folks talk and play music, we stumbled on what seemed to be an old town that was repurposed into a tourist destination, full of fun little shops, restaurants; a glorious mesh between the marshy wetlands and the old architecture.

Here's a bonus picture of some of the fauna we
saw in the wetland. I have no idea what that guy
caught in that net, but it looked a lot like an eel.
He started waiving the creature around, much to
the dismay of the little boy in the dark blue shirt
who shyly exclaimed "That's enough!
Put him back, please."

     As quickly as our adventure started, it had to come to an end. Visiting Hangzhou was definitely a worthwhile trip; I wish I could have stayed another day to see where the famous Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, got his start, or had the opportunity to venture out to the neighboring city of Shaoxing to see where Lu Xun, the famous Chinese writer, was born, or find out where the nearby tea gardens are located. However, I will have to save those wishes for another trip at another time.

We climbed up a pagoda at the
old town in the wetland to get to this view!

     As always, thank you for reading! Feel free to comment and as questions!