Hangzhou and West Lake... China Day 4

Woke up around 8 to SUN which I was ecstatic about because weather.com said it was going to pour all day.

I took a quick walk to the famous West Lake without even showering to make sure I at least got some pictures of it with the weather being decent. I Mosied about for about an hour grabbed breakfast, showered, and I was ready to start my day.

The hostel I was staying at was on the east side of lake very close to the geographic center. Where it was located is called Hefang pedestrian area, which had a lot of cool little shops and booths selling this and that. It was about a 15 minute walk to the actuall lakeside, and let me just tell you the lake area and the parks that surround it are beyong gorgeous. Landscaped manicured lawns, differnt types of flora and fauna, wide paved paths, etc. There was a slight breeze blowing so it made the walk that much more.enjoyable. At the south end od the lake I passed Leifing pagoda, past hourdes of Chinese tour groups in their yellow, purple, and red matching hats. Chinese domestic travel has only increasingly started to take off within the last decade, and from what I've been told group touring is their go-to option when exploring there own country. I myself am in favor of a more, individual approach to travel (duh). 

Arriving to the southwest part of lake brings about two manmade causeways the cross the lake and segment it into smaller parts. I skipped that stroll as I was heading away from the lake, up Longjing road,  past the China tea museum and tea plantations through a valley filled with various self run tea houses, up a hill to Longjing Tea village. This is where the most famous tea in China.is produced, called Dragon Well Tea. The right climate, mountainous location, blah blah blah all play a part in giving it its natural sweet flavor and crisp green hue.

As I had been walking for a few hours now, I decided on lunch in village. I picked the only house in the village (that I saw) that didnt have a tout outside asking if you wanted tea, as I saw a few people dining on.the outdoor patio. I was taken into the kitchen (right off the patio) to hand pick what I wanted to eat. This is awesome, but unfortunately it was a.bit dark to see exaxtly what everything was and I obviously couldnt ask the guy what they were, so I did the best I could. I picked what appeared green beans, some type of root vegetable, a cabbage looking item, and the only think I could blatantly make out what it was, roasted goose. I sat at the table, drank some of the famous green tea (which was very very good) and.anxiously waited for what was to come. What arrived were delicious sauteed "mystery root veggie" in a soy marinade, what turned out to be green beans but spicy chili peppers that still managed to look like green beans even after cooking!, what looked and tasted like sauteed onions with chili flakes but I'm not sure that'd actually what it was, and the most disappointing one of the four, cold goose. I was given a bowl of rice and dug in. I also decided it would be a good idea to pop pepto because somehow I knew id pay for it later. Ill spare the details, but when push came to shove and I had to decide between a SQUAT TOILET and a handicapped stall, I hoped that there wasnt a chinese man in a wheelchair in as dire need as I was at that moment. Also an fyi if you ever travel in eastern countries: always bring along a pack of kleenex, you'll never know when they mighy come in handy...

I finished my walk by heading back down the hill to the west side of thr lake, up the long north side which had excellent views of the cityscape, back down the east side past a water fountain show and back to hostel by 530. It started raining (pouring!) at 6. SCORE!