A ROOKIE
WESTERNER IN
CHINA
Hangzhou
Hangzhou is a wonderful place to visit. Like
Suzhou, it is one of China's smaller cities
and is home to another six million people. Its
uniqueness, however, lies in its setting.
Once you break through the sky-high office
blocks, residential flats and shopping malls
which surround the train station, you come
across a beautiful scene where a prim shore
line, ribboned with willow trees, overlooks
the majestic Great West Lake, the lake from
which sixty others in China take their name.
Skyscrapers dominate the skyline at the
north while misty mountains, punctuated by
lofty pagodas sitting amongst a blanket of
tea plantations, loom over the eastern and
southern sides. The west bank of the lake is
lined with supercar showrooms and plush
hotels; bicyclists drift down the tree-lined
streets conjuring an ambience that wouldn't
be out of place on the French Riviera.
The lake did not come into existence until
the 8th century when the governor of
Hangzhou decided to dredge the marshy
land. Over time the area was cultivated into
the splendour that is still evident today;
gardens were planted, pagodas were built,
and causeways and islands were
constructed from dredged silt.
Beyond the lake, beautiful gardens, with
quiet streams weaving their way through,
are hidden behind lines of willow trees; they
make Hangzhou a pleasure to explore.
Tireless workers from the Hangzhou
Environment department ensure the
landscape is kept prim and proper, and
scamper about brushing away dead leaves
and litter. Up in the hills, sweeping fields of
tea plantations offer repose from the
uncomfortable heat on the lake; 42 degrees
plus humidity certainly restricts the time one
can spend outdoors. Indeed, while I was
there, some inventive folk were frying their
meat on the heat of the pavement while the
local government were sending dust bombs
into the air for water vapour to condense
onto so clouds could form; even the roads
had to be sprayed to save them from melting.
Aside from the climate, Hangzhou is a
pleasant place to live. Western influences,
as in Shanghai, are very evident. As a tourist
you can happily while away the time on the
banks of the lake amongst the fast-car
showrooms and haute couture houses
without any impression that there's extreme
poverty and breadline survival in existence
just a mile or two deeper into town.
One way to remind yourself you're in China
is to head to Grandma's restaurant for
supper; it’s a local culinary phenomenon,
with a few branches around the city. I don't
think I'll come across many restaurants in
the world that have to contend with
popularity as much as Grandma does.
Without any opportunity to book a table
beforehand, a ticket system at the door
ensures you'll eventually get your grub. A
one and a half hour wait is quite normal and,
in an atrium at the entrance, the gaggle of
hungry locals is pacified with a peculiar
buffet of green tea, popcorn, cherry
tomatoes and soft mints. And to ensure both
tongue and eye are quenched while they
stand there, a recording of a Victoria’s
Secret fashion show loops on the television
screens. Sadly either the presence of
children or a 9pm watershed meant that the
occasional over-exposed buttock or bosom
were censored from the mesmerised
audience.
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