Hangzhou (pr. 'hung-joe') and stuff

So I'm in China! I live in Changxing located in the Zhejiang Province. It is one of the cleanest and most beautiful provinces in China. Changxing (pr. 'Chung-shing) is no exception. I will be writing in my blog from time to time to upload photos so that all of my friends and family can see how I'm doing, and I can update them on any going-on's from across the pond. In my first post I will briefly touch on some photos I took after initially arriving to China, and then I have many pictures from my trip to Hangzhou yesterday (3/10), which is a great place!

So here are some pictures!

This is a picture from my 14.5 hour flight! At this point we were directly over the North Pole. It was a cool view from the plane. I could see ice bergs and whatnot.

This is Edward (Mr. Qien (pr: chi-en)). Don't let him fool you.... he's quite the jokster! Full of piss and vinegar... Edward has been THE biggest help for me. He is my assistant, and has made me feel right at home in this whole new city, in this whole new land, and with this whole new culture. My first night he took me to the Sauna to spend some time in the steam room and get a foot massage afterwards (which was like a pedicure and a foot massage.... oh yea for FREE). There will be more about this rascal to come... I promise.


The following pictures are from my trip yesterday to Hangzhou. As I mentioned, Hangzhou is an absolutely beautiful city. It kinda reminded me of Toronto (aside from the ducks and eels hanging in some of the windows). It was very clean, and had many people talking in an odd language (ohhhh Canada!). The people in Hangzhou were very friendly, and very curious about the foreigners. The first picture is a quick picture of West Lake. West Lake is considered to be one of the most beautiful lakes in all of China. It is nestled into some mountains and hills that are not very developed. There are a few temples that sit on top of the mountains whose silouettes you can barely make out (due to the fog yesterday), but they are very large, and very old.
These boats were something like a dinner boat. There were only a few oot and aboot, but they seemed like a nice time for the end of May, when a special someone comes out to visit!
This was a pagoda whose floor was very near to the water level.... this would be cool looking if the water level was just about even...
More from the boats... i liked the looks of these guys.... I promise I will stop talking about the boats...
This is not a real woman, but simply a bronze statue of a woman floating in a little boat.....which, again, I thought was pretty cool looking. They have a lot of figures like this in the water... even in Changxing where I live.
TONS of people EVERYWHERE!! If you count all of the people in this picture I will send you a Chinese Snickers! or an eel!
Springtime willow trees.... they were everywhere. Willow trees are of my favorite trees... wait til early summer when these puppies are in full bloom.... can't wait to come back to see that...

These are stone tablets that are carved out to tell a story of the village. I think they are old, but the plaque was in Chinese characters.... and I know 0 (zero) of the characters. At the end of the story there was an emphasis on tea. So I think the story has a happy ending....lets hope so!
BTW.... Hangzhou has THE best green tea leaves in all of China. It's a fact. It is called Dragon Well Tea.... I didn't have any because I ruined my appetite with ice cream (sorry mom!)....and because it is very expensive. Maybe next time!
Pretty trees.... I have a feeling that these were some sort of Magnolia tree or something.... very nice looking.

This was the entrance to an old village that stood here on the water in Hangzhou. It was a very prosperous village during the Song Dynasty (a long time ago). The village is behind me of course...
A goldfish pond at the entrance of the village...
Tilt your head to the left!!!.......The pond on the oppisite side.
Same pond...This is the door to the gates. There would have been guards here protecting the village. Kinda like Buffalo's toll boothes!
Inside the gates. This is the year of the Pig, so there are very animated Pig statues all over China. These pigs are made of fruits and nuts and corn cobs (other things I'm sure).
More inside the village walls...
Another building with gorgeous flowers....inside the walls.


A garden in the back of the village. There was a well located here I believe...
Cool looking picture.... I'm assuming of a leader of some sort. This was in the Emperor's bulding. Also the worship house...
Old painting of the village. I love this art syle...
Pagoda with traditional architeture.
The stage in the village. I'm assuming where their entertainment and political gatherings would have been held.
Train ride home with the crew. The guy on the right is a friend of Jenny (yellow shirt), he knew a lot about European Geography. He was a cool dude.
Girl and mother sitting across from me...
I was very tired, and was feeling grizzly after walking all day.

Goodbye Hangzhou!This is my new ride (for the time being anyways) Jim (new American friend) is letting me use it for a little while, as he just bought a new one..... I may buy it so I can get around easier (my girl's bike is just not seeing the street with me on it....sorry bike)... Not sure if I wanna spend the money tho.... We'll see.

More to come. Thanks for reading!

Mr. Eric