frauke at large

Last weekend I had the privilege of exploring two more Chinese cities – Yiwu and Hangzhou.

Set off by car from Ningbo at about 9 am to drive south-west to Yiwu. The drive took roughly two and a bit hours and allowed for another impression of a more rural China. On the way we passed hundreds of tea plantations and fields of bamboo, which, because of their location on hill tops and mountain slopes, looked very beautiful. Every now and again there were small concrete huts erected on top of small hills, with gold ornaments and flower decorations on top of them – I later found out they are burial paces.

 

 

After a small break, we finally arrived at the only 5 star hotel in Yiwu at around mid-day. From the outside you could wonder what the 5 stars had been allocated for, however one thing which I have noticed is that for many places in China the motto applies – ‘do not judge the inside by the facade on the outside’, or in other terms, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’. Needless to say, the hotel was great and the rooms were huge.

 

 

 

And here is another observation, which you just cannot avoid: the juxtaposition of wealth and poverty. So here we were are in the best hotel in town, and you look out of the window onto, what can only be described as gray, dull, concrete boxes. I think I now know why so many people here love bright and colourful things …

 

 

 

Met up with another friend and had lunch at a very authentic Chinese restaurant. The food was laid out for you to chose before being asked to take your seats – this can be a fatal error when very hungry, as you inevitably chose far too many dishes which, after two dumplings and a plethora of vegetables, you never end up able to eat entirely. As part of the menu you could have chosen turtle, snake and diverse varieties of fish and crabs (which are all still alive before you have made your choice) … I’ll leave you to make up your minds on that one.

 

 

 

The afternoon we spent walking around the new market of Yiwu, were thousands of vendors are trying to sell anything imaginable under the sun. Quantities of purchase start at boxes of 10 and go up to hundreds and thousands. Many of the items exhibited can’t actually be bought on the day, but have to be ordered and then manufactured.

 

 

 

On our travels around the city I saw some amazing flower displays whilst in a taxi. They were all made up entirely of flower heads and must have been 3m high.

 

 

 

 

After an extravagant breakfast of omelet, pastrie, cereal, traditional chinese breakfast, fruit, fish… you get the gist, we headed off to the train station to take the ‘bullet train’ to Hangzhou. Having never been on a train in China before, this was quite an experience, although I am told I had the posh introduction to chinese trains – ‘wait until you have been on a hard seat train’! Catching the train is kind of like catching a plane – all passengers need to accumulate in the ‘waiting room’; once the train is about 10mins away, you get ket onto the platform where you must form an orderly queue before entering the train and finding your seat. In terms of the punctuality and the speed of the train (210km/h), it s a whole different league to British trains, although nothing compares to the ICE in Germany.

Got into Hangzhou about an hour after leaving Yiwu. Hangzhou is about 170 km south of Shanghai and it is one of China’s seven famous ancient capital cities. Hangzhou is actually the capital of the province in which I am staying (Zhejiang province) and was once described as one of the finest and most splendid cities in the world by Marco Polo. And right he was. Hangzhou is magnificent. Of all the places I have been to yet (I know, it has not been many), it must be my favorite so far. It is very green, there are trees everywhere and it looks as though it is very well maintained. Particularly in the sense that it does not seem spoilt by new, grotesque buildings, but has kept many of the features which were introduced by the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279 AD). It has a beautiful large lake (West Lake) around which everything revolves, in fact you can walk almost all the way around it. There are boats to take you to various islands in the middle of the lake too – unfortunately I did not have time for that, but will definitely take a trip on a boat when I return.

 

 

 

Hangzhou just has so much charm! We went and had lunch at a restaurant called: Louwailou Restaurant, which is the most famous right by the Western Lake lakeside. It boasts a history of over 100 years of existence and wines and dines the rich and successful of Hangzhou. Specialities here are ‘beggars chicken’ and ‘West Lake fish in sweet and sour sauce’. We also had Lotus root with rice, vegetables with Lili roots, bamboo shoots and green vegetables – it was delicious. Below is the lotus root dish… Lunch really was fabulous!

 

 

Had a short walk along the lake after lunch, before making a pit-stop visit to a temple.

 

 

 

 

There were two grapefruit trees in the courtyard and several Edgeworthia crysantha. The whole place was very tranquil and relaxing. Unfortunately my entry about Hangzhou does not do it justice, however there was just not enough time to see it all – a fleeting introduction to an amazing place – with a definite intension of coming back.

 

 

 

 

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