Hangzhou

Hangzhou is coined as the most beautiful city in China and I couldn't agree more. Everything is so GREEN and West Lake is absolutely breathtaking. Hangzhou neighbors Ningbo and it took us 4 hrs on a slow train and $4.75 to get there. Can you say BARGAIN?! We got in Friday night to the cutest hostel. After China I don't think I will ever stay in a hotel again. Hostels are just so much more fun! This hostel was especially fun because they had guitars to jam with and dogs to play with! The two dogs would pick leaves from the bushes and play fetch with the leaves! I just couldn't get over it! China dogs are so creative.

 Anyway, Rachel, Kate, and I decided to go explore even though it was dark outside. We ended up walking like 6 miles around the lake because it was so beautiful even at night! (And we might've got a little lost...) But we stumbled upon some workers coming in from the lake on boats. We persuaded them to take us out on the lake (AKA forked over some yuan) and we got the most peaceful ride! the water was so still it looked like glass.

The next morning we rented bikes and rode to the Lingyin Temple. Mckae's bike tire popped on the way but luckily the hostel brought us a shiny new one! In the temple there are ancient carvings and grottos that were so amazing. We walked through caves and caves off these things. We even took a little hike and made some bug friends.

Then we rode our bikes to China's National Tea Museum. The tea fields and gardens surrounding the museum were beautiful and we sat for a few hours just relaxing. We returned our bikes at the hostel and then went to a literal hole in the wall place for dinner. The ceiling was barely 6ft high. But they had the most delicious dumplings, noodles, and wontons so we were quite satisfied.

Day two we spent at West Lake. The lake is huge and we stopped at several places to along the way. At our first stop we found the best steamed buns, danced MJ for a huge crowd, and chatted with the cutest college students Vicki, John, and Jimmy. They were very anxious to practice their English with us and it was adorable. Jimmy wanted recommendations of American movies, John talked sports, and Vicki wanted to talk BOYS.

Stop two Rachel, Kate, and I went to another section of the lake before our train ride home. This is where we met David. Stopping to look at a map, David asked us if we needed any help. He immediately took us to a spot were we could sit and get a good view of the lake.  David has been to America over 40 times and his son is graduating from MIT. As we talked with him, it was clear he is one of the kindest and wisest people. He is just one of those people that would do anything to help anyone. He even invited us to his 29th anniversary dinner but we told him we had to go home in just a few hours. He brought his wife for us to meet, took pictures for us, and then paid for our bus back to our hostel. He made us promise that we would all meet again in three yrs because it was destiny that we had met that day. It was adorable. I can't even describe the cuteness of this man. But now I can tell people, "A wise man in China told me, 'The world is like a small village." And ain't it the truth. It's such a small small world.

Rachel was hungry on the way home... #frorealz