Phew, we all say. How can a three-week holiday take so long to describe, except that we had such a wonderful time? I said at the beginning that I wouldn’t talk much about food, but it seems to have been constant. How I managed to not put (more) weight on I’m not sure (but I’m not complaining).
We arrived in Hangzhou from Harbin in the dark so all was lit up, although we didn’t get to tour the sights. The hotel (Four Seasons, a small chain started by a Canadian) was on the West Lake, a popular tourist attraction. I’d heard of the chain but never stayed in one. Thoroughly recommended, I might see if I can try them all. They have 133 hotels and resorts. That should be feasible? I could start local with Dogmersfield in Hampshire and work my way out. Or maybe it would be more sensible to start far afield and work my way home.
They are very luxurious, possibly I’d get fed up with all that comfort. I love their version of the golf buggy. In the Hangzhou hotel there was a young lady playing a traditional Chinese musical instrument in the reception area in the afternoon and a ‘tea ceremony’ area. I could at least try the one in Hampshire to see what they offered.
Our room had lots of balloons, a birthday card and cake for the birthday boy. At the end of a busy day travelling, JD and I relaxed with a glass of champagne in the ‘winter garden’ attached to our room. I didn’t know you could have a personal one until a friend of ours moved to a flat that had one: basically, an enclosed balcony so you can enjoy the light without the humidity or rain or cold (depending on the season).
The next morning, breakfast was an absolute feast. We walked past the buffet, stimulating our appetites before we sat down. Fruit, pastries, seafood, cold meats etc as well as all the Chinese delicacies. I’d not been eating much of these at breakfast time as I felt I needed a bit of a break before the evening feasts. I generally had fruit and pastries so I could use my fingers. I think it was here that I had a green bun, very more-ish. I could not work out what the flavour was so asked the waitress: it was wasabi! Would I have tried it if I’d known beforehand?
After breakfast we relaxed for a couple of hours before going off with a tour guide in the hotel limo (a Zeekr 900: there are a great many Chinese brands that are not widely known worldwide or exported). First stop, a park at the side of the lake. So tranquil, all you could hear was birdsong and water lapping on the shore, with occasional voices in the distance.
Unlike the cities, where there are horns blaring (apart from Shanghai, where they’re not allowed), people gesticulating and talking loudly and mini loudspeakers selling the wares of the shops. There was one loudspeaker but even that was almost a whisper. We walked around for maybe half an hour then back into the car for a trip into the mountains to see the tea plantations.
We dressed in traditional tea pickers’ clothes, were sprayed with anti-mosquito spray and set off into the plantation. I stopped once the path became narrow and rocky but the others continued up the mountain. One of the helpers at the place stayed with me and we chatted about the UK and education and our pets! I told her she spoke excellent English: she’d never been out of China but they all learn it at school. She very gently removed a mosquito from close to my eye (unless it was mascara escaping) and lent me her veil to stop any more attacking me. Our driver picked some leaves and put them into my basket so it looked as though I’d been working.
Once the others returned with their leaves we saw how the tea is prepared, the leaves being heated at 200 degrees C and dried out by hand, with the others having a go. We then learnt about making tea (green) and how healthy it is for you. You only need one pinch (two or three fingers depending on the quality) and it can be refreshed up to five times with water at 80-90 degrees, NEVER boiling. We brought some home so let’s see if it helps us lower our blood pressure, cholesterol and weight!
Back at the hotel, JD had a dip in the pool then it was time for dinner. The Chinese restaurant is apparently almost impossible to book if you’re not resident so we took advantage of that and had yet another great meal. One dish, lobster and chicken with chillies, they assured us was not that spicy. When it arrived, the lobster and chicken pieces were hidden in a mountain of red chillies! I’m annoyed I didn’t take a photo for you but I was enjoying the food too much to remember.
At the end, they brought a special dessert for the birthday celebration, a sort of dumpling with what looked like egg yolk inside but was custardy, meant to signify good health and a long life. I did get a shot of that. There was also another ‘birthday cake’ for JD in the shape of a peach (also signifying good health and a long life), the same as the one in Harbin. You can possibly see it as today’s header.
On JD’s actual birthday, it felt like we’d been celebrating for about a week already. We were on our own as G&Y had left to get back at work. As we walked through reception, we were greeted with ‘happy birthday Mr Dawson’ by all the staff then led to the hotel’s private dock, where we embarked upon a journey around part of the lake with breakfast on board. I’ve not counted the different transports we used but I think at each stop we had a boat ride of some sort.
It was very serene, with only other boats being punted along and a few ducks, including a family of mum, dad and five ducklings. Possibly grebes, they had a chestnut cheek (but no crest that I could see so not great crested grebes).
We digested breakfast then had a relaxing massage. Dinner was in the Italian Bistro in the hotel: we were the only people there, the service was brisk and the air conditioning was fierce so we didn’t linger. The Chinese waiter sang happy birthday in English as he brought dessert (a Basque cheesecake interpretation). I don’t think I’ll allow JD to have another birthday away from home.
There were some really noisy birds that started up mid-afternoon when disturbed by people walking in the hotel grounds, they sounded like they’re underneath you, but were in the trees so we couldn’t spot them for identification. I tried my Merlin app to see if that could identify them. Nope. Almost a raucous purr. They continued well into the night and it suddenly dawned on us: not birds but bullfrogs. How embarrassing. Rapidly changing the subject, the grounds were beautiful, with a map telling us where to take the best photos. We didn’t find the Buddha but the waterfall was worth seeing.
The next day was our final full day: we caught a train to Shanghai and stayed the night at the amazing Hotel Moller. This was built by a Swedish shipping magnate after his daughter (age unknown) drew a picture of a ‘fairy tale castle’ and told him she’d dreamt she’d live in it. Who hasn’t tried that on their dad?
http://www.mollervilla.com/en/
The hotel is full of antiques (which you mustn’t touch), including a Challen piano: coincidentally, this is the first type of piano my teacher had when she started to learn, a gift from her dad. (The gift I remember best from my dad was a pair of Hush Puppy shoes).
On our last night we went to a French restaurant and had a lovely farewell meal with G and Y. They had obviously told the staff it was our last night as we had a special dessert.
On reviewing the holiday, it hit me that we’ve now seen three of the ’new’ seven wonders of the world: Petra in Jordan, the Colosseum in Rome, and the Great Wall of China. Peru, Mexico and Brazil we could maybe combine into one trip? That only leaves the Taj Mahal, I’m sure we’ll get to see that soon. Of the seven wonders of nature, we’ve only seen Table Mountain, but of the cities, between JD and me, we’ve seen Durban (Unicef diverted for appendicitis), Doha (airport on our way back due to Covid), Beirut and Havana. I can feel some new planning coming on.
https://world.new7wonders.com/wonders/
On the flight home I saw an impressive mountain, I had to find out about it. I think it is Gora Bazardyuzyu in the Greater Caucasus range between Azerbaijan and Russia and 4,466 meters high. It was just after we flew over the Caspian Sea, but possibly too close to Russia for correct identification. I’ll never know.
I hadn’t picked it up but JD must have been craving English food. On our way home from the airport we stopped at a pub and he had a small sandwich with all the trimmings.
George and John's boating trip no longer 