Hangzhou Day 3

Today is officially day three of our long stay in Hangzhou. Although we know tomorrow is THE big day of the trip and what we ultimately made this journey for, today was our favorite day in China so far.

We headed out with Celine today to see Lingyin Temple, one of the largest public Buddhist temple complexes in China, and the Mei Family Tea Plantation, which harvests Dragon Well Tea, considered one of the highest quality green teas in China and grown only in the Zhejiang province.

We rode in heavy traffic around West Lake, which sprawls for miles. It became very clear that we could visit a different part of the lake every day during our trip and never see everything the lake has to offer. On our first day here, Celine explained that the apartments on the lake are very expensive, most in the range of $500k to $750k, which is probably the equivalent to a million dollar plus apartment in the US.

We quickly arrived at the Lingyin Temple, which is set in beautiful vegetation along a hillside. Although we were only 20 minutes outside the city, it felt very remote. Even for a Monday, it was very busy with Chinese tourists, but still had a serene feel. Anyone wishing to meditate would have had a perfect backdrop with which to do it. Lu, if you are reading this, I thought of you the entire time we were there.

Once inside the Lingyin temple gates, we walked through a vast area that can't be easily described. The entire mountainside surrounding the temples is covered with huge 3 dimensional carvings of different Buddha's, monks, and other symbols of Buddhism. The beauty and detail couldn't be captured by our cameras.

Buddhism is no longer commonly practiced as a modern religion in China, but there were many people there bowing to the statues and burning incense to give thanks. We could have easily been there all day and still would have needed more time just to take in the carvings…and we still had the rest of the temple grounds to explore. Our favorite carving was of Laughing Buddha. He is, of course, what Westerners think is the Buddha, but he is actually rarely seen in any of the temples. There are literally hundreds of Buddha's, each with a different meaning and place in time.

It is forbidden to take pictures inside the halls, and we wanted to respect those wishes, but Shawn mischievously snuck a few pictures inside one of the halls that houses 500 stone Buddha's. We could have gotten lost in that room, and again would have liked several hours to look at each and every statue.

Staircases stretched further and further up the mountainside as we entered more Buddha halls. Each hall housed a different primary Buddha, some with disciples and each with its own significance to Buddhism and Chinese, Tibetan, or Indian culture. Many practicing monks roamed the grounds, most as tourists, and mostly Llama's. There are 4 sects to Buddhism, but the Llama's are the most common.

I could go on all day about this place. It really is worth coming back to China for…and who would have known it was tucked away in this place we had, not so long ago never heard of, Hangzhou? I'm so glad we can bring Ian back here some day to appreciate it, yet be so close to his home town.

After Lingyin Temple, we continued just a few minutes and found ourselves in a beautiful valley between two hillsides, which is where the Mei Family tea village is located. Tea plants cover the ground for as far as the eye can see in all directions. I was surprised that the tea plants are not contained in anyway and grow right to the road's edge. We were able to walk right up to them and touch the leaves. Celine described the harvesting schedule and how they harvest the tender baby leaves first in March and April, which are the best quality and most expensive. The 2^nd and 3^rd harvests follow, and the quality of the tea degrades with the passing months. The leaves are handpicked and machines are never used. Each tea plant takes 4 to 5 years to reach harvesting age, and then can be harvested yearly for approx. 25 years. They are then cut down and will grow back in the same cycle two more times, meaning each plant has a 75 year life span.
We went to a tea ceremony, similar to the one in Beijing, but this time the focus was purely on Dragon Well tea, the grades of tea, and the benefits. As with the other ceremony, it ended with the "you only buy here" sales pitch, but this is one of the main things we wanted to buy in Ian's province, so we splurged. Ironically, we bought quite a bit of the highest grade, which they packaged in front of us from a newly opened bundle, and we spent less than we did when we were in Beijing.

It was here that I had my first experience with a squatty potty. I'll leave it at that, but let's just say that some of my dear friends would have fainted to see the conditions of that bathroom. I'm proud to say I walked away with clean shoes!

Once back at the hotel, Shawn and I were ashamed to admit that we were craving some American cuisine, and snuck down the street to the Pizza Hut. We said we wouldn't do it, but we did. We're weak westerners! The place was packed with trendy Chinese teenagers and the pizza was actually quite good.

We are back at the hotel and will watch the clock slowly tick away the last 18 hours until we leave to meet Ian. Yes, the moment so many are waiting for…You won't have to wait much longer. They came and set up the porta-crib for us today, and it took two ladies from housekeeping (whom I think might have been swearing in Chinese), Shawn and myself a half hour to get it together. Ian will probably figure out how to collapse it in half that time.

Thanks again to everyone for following along. Things will be a bit more interesting in the coming days. In the meantime, I have rearranged the picture links so all Beijing pics are in one folder and Hangzhou will be divided until we arrive in Guangzhou. Please see Hangzhou Days 1 thru 3 for the boring stuff leading up to Ian's arrival.

Also sending out a big thank you to Tom & Trish for picking up our Polli from her kennel. We hope she is behaving with her cousin Spirit and not giving you too much grief at night. We miss her so much and can't wait for Ian to meet her. We know he will love her as much as we do.

Signing off. Take care all.

Love, Shawn & Steph

A few from today: