In order to give Rob, Stacy and her Mother (I have this song in my head whenever I speak to her: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVJmwYKy7eM - is that wrong?) a little break from my demanding ways and hurricane tantrums, I decided to take a mid-week trip down to neighbouring city Hangzhou - the capital of the Zhejiang province. Marco Polo visited the city in the 13th Century and described Hangzhou, with its famous West Lake as "beyond dispute the finest and the noblest in the world." Who was I to argue with a man who embarked on a 24 year adventure around Asia compared to my mere thumb print of two months?
With a rare Giant Panda
The initial signs for my break did not inspire confidence. A fellow passenger on my train, a local businessman from Hangzhou, tutted when I explained I would be touring his home city for a number of days. He shook his head and said morbidly under his breath that this was absolutely the wrong season to set foot on earth made only for the blush of Spring and late Summer evenings. After shaking off this open discouragement, on eventually finding my hostel I strolled down to the West Lake whilst battling the bitter temperatures and was eventually captivated by the vivid lilac Lake as still as the Winter air.
I must admit, the next day was rather problematic. I was informed by my friendly West Lake Youth House receptionist that I was a bit of an idiot not to have bought a return ticket back to Shanghai considering we were close to the Chinese New Year which meant that buying them a day before departure, let alone on the day, was out of the question, due to enormous demand. I shrugged and took a bicycle out for the day to take in more of the surroundings, gliding through the Jade Temple and Solitary Hill. The Chinese Poet, Lin Hejing, encapsulated the elusive mood of the tranquility of the Lake when he penned the following verse;
Sparse shadows slant across the clear water shallow,
Subtle fragrance floats serenely in moonlight mellow
Unfortunately, due to the downpour of rain and it being early afternoon, I could not quite gaze completely into Mr. Hejing's dreamlike expression. Interestingly, Mr. Hejing never left Hangzhou, content with planting plum trees and feeding the passing cranes. He never found a lady to settle down with and now tradition states that the plums were his wife and the cranes his children. He can't be pleased with that myth, surely.
Sparse shadows slant across the clear water shallow,
Subtle fragrance floats serenely in moonlight mellow
Unfortunately, due to the downpour of rain and it being early afternoon, I could not quite gaze completely into Mr. Hejing's dreamlike expression. Interestingly, Mr. Hejing never left Hangzhou, content with planting plum trees and feeding the passing cranes. He never found a lady to settle down with and now tradition states that the plums were his wife and the cranes his children. He can't be pleased with that myth, surely.
Mine and Lin Hejing's seat
As the day drew to a close I realised it was time to obtain a train ticket from the station and get some money out of an ATM. Five visits to independent ATM's and various Banks later I continued to be denied any Yuan for my greedy leather wallet. After a curt call back home, my bank in England provided no reasoning to this rejection. I then had to cycle once again back to my hostel to retrieve the $100 worth of Hong Kong Dollars I had stuffed in my rucksack (worth around ten pounds) which I exchanged at the Bank of China after an hour long queue for the local currency. This meagre 100 Yuan was to see me through for the next two days. Now beginning to be soaked by the descending showers, I attempted to get a bus to the train station to buy my ticket for my Thursday ride back to Shanghai. The bus that I needed to get arrived with delay and once I boarded the reptile like vehicle the driver barked at me in Mandarin to get off, once he realised that he couldn't understand where I wished to get dropped off at. After four taxis ignored my now wrinkled and pale flagging palm, I decided to return back to my luke warm heated dormitory, as rain water found its way through my sodden Batman socks and left via the open toe of my puma trainers.
Huquingyutang Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum
I awoke very early the next morning to quickly get to the train station - armed with a drawing of a train scribbled hurriedly on a creased piece of paper and with the Chinese written form of Shanghai above it which the receptionist kindly wrote down so as to avoid any confusion with the service desk at the station. Somehow I managed to get the last seat on my desired train. The sun gathered it's composure and sat stubbornly in a fair sky as I discovered online that we had beaten City in the Carling Cup semi-final second leg and that Andy Murray was through to the Australian Open Final. What a turn around from the previous day's agonising defeats.
Hangzhou Street Market
For my final few days in Shanghai, I once again helped myself to most of the food in Rob and Stacy's fridge as well as utilising most of their supply of hot water. For my final night we all went out for Rob's brother's birthday drinks along with his brother's Korean work colleagues, who it transpired were a loose bunch of liabilities. The eldest of the Koreans, who must have been around fifty years old was reminiscent of the actor Ken Jeong - famous for his guile and eccentricities as King Argotron in Role Models and as Leslie Chow in The Hangover. Much to my disdain, those guys were overly hospitable with their bottles of whiskey and cups of warm rice wine.
Can't remember this being taken
I left China, and my Asian leg of my travels by stepping on to a Maglev train (also know as a magnetic levitation train, true story) to Pudong Airport. The train roared to 431 km/hour as it twisted like a knife past the stuttering cars below on the freeway and away from the Whore of the Orient that is Shanghai.
Hangzhou Song of the Day: Mr. Big - To Be With You
I've now heard this lost 90's corker three times since working my way up China, is the country that far behind in terms of popular music? Still, they could have chosen worse than this long haired ballad which I suppose is a close relative to Extreme's acoustic More Than Words.
I've now heard this lost 90's corker three times since working my way up China, is the country that far behind in terms of popular music? Still, they could have chosen worse than this long haired ballad which I suppose is a close relative to Extreme's acoustic More Than Words.
i-Pod Song of the Day: The Shins - Turn On Me
On acquiring my new stellar white headphones I am reminded of Natalie Portman's character in Garden State. She listened to The Shins a lot in that movie and now so do I. She's my favourite, but has never looked better than in her debut in Leon.
The song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIRmyfKOAfM
On acquiring my new stellar white headphones I am reminded of Natalie Portman's character in Garden State. She listened to The Shins a lot in that movie and now so do I. She's my favourite, but has never looked better than in her debut in Leon.
The song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIRmyfKOAfM
Garden State Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u82n0e1mgmQ&feature=related
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