Alex Quinn's Japan Journal

4/3/2005, China trip day 11: Hiking in Hangzhou, dinner out with David and Xiujuan

We set out for a second day of hiking in the mountains on the edge of Hangzhou.

Although you can see some evidence of city, you'd never know you were anywhere near a metropolis.

We met some guys in the mountains who were taking a hike.  They were awfully friendly.  They took our picture together with their camera and mine.

Scenery from the hills outside of Hangzhou.

Here's David on a little walkway that cuts through a little tea farm.

And here's me with the tea farm.

There was some farming and stuff like that up there, but it was pretty light.

David on another such walkway.  I liked these little walkways.  The bushes near him are tea trees.

Tea trees.

Here's a ginkgo tree.

We ran into this interesting building up in the hills.  I'm not sure what it is.  It looks a bit Mexican to me, but I doubt there's actually any relation.

Another view of the same place.

A sign from the same area.

Another sign from the same area.

Some sort of farm with a rich person's house in the background.

Some women tending to the tea field.

After we got down out of the hills, we found ourselves in a beautiful area on the outskirts of Hangzhou.  It seems to be farming area, but there were some shops around, too.  I thought it was pretty.

That night, David, Xiujuan (his girlfriend), and I went out to dinner.  Typical Chinese food.

Some of it was a little spicy, but not too bad.

David and Xiujuan are very cute together.

It's worth noting that for the entire time I stayed in Hangzhou, I slept on Xiujuan's floor.  David and Xiujuan currently live together in her tiny one-room (plus bathroom, no kitchen) apartment.  I slept on a pad on the floor 2 feet from their bed.  My staying there was a bit of an intrusion to say the least, but they were very gracious hosts and repeatedly refused my offer to stay somewhere else or otherwise give them some privacy.

<Previous     -     Index     -     Next>