[China Trip] Day 3 & 4 Highlights in Zhouzhuang / Hangzhou
(Written back around summer 2002)
On our third and fourth days of our tour of China, we went to the ancient town of Zhouzhuang Watertown; enjoyed a fabulous Pork Shank lunch, took a look at a couple of different bridge types - one is called a ‘double key’ and they other is ’round and square.’ Afterwards we went to the Shen Residential home where we saw a traditional style Chinese kitchen.
We drove a bit further and arrived at a Pearl Farm called ‘Golden Rooster Lake Pearl Factory.’ Here we rode on some small boats and picked out an oyster from the net. Surprisingly each oyster held about one or two dozen pearls each! Unfortunately these aren’t saleable quality. The good pearls were inside the huge pearl jewelery shop. Prices ranged from about 300 Yuan to about 30,000 Yuan!
After the Pearl Factory we drove to Hangzhou Heaven on Earth where we met our new local guide named Diana or ’sugar’. We then checked in at the Dragon Inn Hotel. Afterwards some of us went and checked out the town.
The next morning, we went to the 6 harmony pagoda (I climbed up and down all 13 floors in 15 minutes), took a boat ride on the West Lake (and this is also where my aunt and uncle got detached from the rest of the group). we had lunch at this famous restaurant called ‘Mountain Beyond Mountain Shnwai Shan.’
After lunch, we went to Dr. T’s Tea Village. The village is known for Longin Tea or Dragon Well Tea (according to the tour guide, they have the #1 tea in the region!). We learned about how tea is picked (best time is in the Spring as it is the most nutritious and fresh) and how it is hand dried, then stored. He told us that there were 3 main types of tea - Green/ Black and Middle and it has to do with whether the tea is fermented or not and by how much. We got to taste some of the different teas while Dr. T described the process to us and answered all our questions. He told us the secrets to making a good cup of tea:
- Don’t use boiling water. Use water that is 95 degrees celsius. You can boil water then let it sit for 5 minutes and that’s the correct temperature.
- Don’t cover the tea, unless you
- Use a clay tea pot which allows the tea to breathe
Dr. T reminded me a bit of a TV spokesperson - something like what you would find on the Home Shopping Network. Needless to say, quite a few people bought several tins of tea, myself included.
We next headed to the Lingyin Temple (which contains more than 300 Budha’s as well as various temples and shrines), went back to the hotel to get rested up, had dinner, then went to the night market.
The night markets are a lot of fun as you can see so many different things and you can bargain with the locals. It’s like a big game to me. No matter what, you’ll get ripped off left right and center, however, the most important thing is to get something for a price that you feel is good for you.
After the night market we headed home and get rested up for the next day.
Filed under: China
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