Marco Polo was right.

Hangzhou really is "without a doubt the finest and most splendid city in the world". OK, so that may be just a bit of an exaggeration. However, no longer than a couple of hours into our three-day stay in the capital of Zhejiang Province had I decided that it beats all the tourist resorts I've ever been to- the Turkish Riviera, the shores of Croatia, even Mallorca (and that means something coming from a German person).

A relatively small city by Chinese standards with a population of about 6.4 million, Hangzhou is located southwest of Shanghai. Its main attraction is the West Lake (Xi Hu), which was probably what prompted Signor Polo to make the comments that he did and to devote about 16 pages to the city in his Travels.

Having been told by my colleague (who I like to call Mr Understatement) that it's "nice, but not all that great", you cannot imagine the leap that my heart made when my first view of the lake late on Friday afternoon was this. (My boyfriend and me had both arrived Friday morning but, after a flight back from Ireland the previous day for him and eight days of working straight for me, we decided to sacrifice the day for the sake of a big old chill.)

The cloudy mist, the warm lake breeze and the ever-present scent of flowers and pine trees had me captivated immediately. On our first night we went for a walk towards the famed Broken Bridge, which, if mentioned to any Chinese person, will immediately get them talking about the sad love story of Lady Whitesnake. Whilst Himself and myself weren't all too bothered about the romance part of it, the bridge itself was gorgeous, even if it was packed with tourists (after all, this was the May bank holiday).

Other famous scenic spots around the lake include Three Ponds Mirroring The Moon, bang in the middle of the lake- if the picture is too small, just find yourself a 1 RMB note! My two personal highlights were sitting by the deserted lakeshore at four in the morning or so (nightlife's good in Hangzhou, too!), with the moon watching over us and an old lady playing the flute somewhere, and a Saturday- evening hike by the lakeside and through the adjoining gardens and woods towards the Leifeng Pagoda, which was gorgeously lit up and which has stunning view of the lake and city. Unfortunately, my own photos of this episode didn't come out- all the more reason to go back though!

Local food was a joy too- on the Saturday night I even ended up having a little bit of fish, Hangzhou style in a vinegar sauce- nice!

Overall, what impressed me most about the lake is how, even though a lot of the surrundings (structures, flowerbeds and so on) are man-made, it's all been done so tastefully and to such a high standard, and everything is so meticulously maintainedthat, even though swimming is not allowed, it still impresses me more than every seaside resort I've ever been to.

The city, even though it's built right up to the lake and is as busy as any Chinese city, never seemed to obstruct the beauty of the scenery in any way- in fact, walking down the wide main street which led almost right up to the shore, with about a million bikes and scooters around me made me feel very much like in a Mediterranean city. Both Himself and me (now obviously living in somewhat of a distance relationship) were so impressed by the combination of sub-tropical climate, stunning scenery and friendly atmosphere, all in a city as modern as any, that we did start thinking a bit further- my contract in Beijing is for a year, and while Beijing (and for Himself, Shenyang) has a lot to offer, that southern way of life is very tempting indeed. Who knows, come spring next year, this blog may just have a different title...

This time, I'm not going to wait for Blogger to upload all the pictures that I made- instead, please see for yourselves here and here. As I mentioned before, the Saturday night pictures didn't really come out, and a word of warning as well- these pictures, as nice as you may (or may not!) find them, do not do Hangzhou and the West Lake any justice whatsoever- you really do have to be there, feel the breeze, watch the sun glistening on the water and inhale the wonderful scent of the flowers and trees.

And now here I am, back in this massive construction site of a city...! Ah no, I do love Beijing, it's just, you know...

Bis dann,

Nadine

PS: If you're ever in China at all, at any time of the year, or even near it, please, please do yourself, myself, even God himself a favour and go to Hangzhou.




















Couldn't resist adding this one in... now go book your flights already!