Today is D-DAY that we will be going to Hangzhou ! Exciting!
My original planning was to take the bullet train to Hangzhou and then take the metro to our Hotel - RenHe Hotel (仁和饭店）Should have been a relatively easy journey. But one of my kind friend has helped to contact his business associate in Nanjing to lend us his car and driver so that makes traveling to Hangzhou even much easier ! (Pls read my lesson learnt at the end of this post)
Driver Tom came to our hotel to pick us up at 8.30am. Prior, we have already checked out from Sofitel that early morning, and left our big pieces luggage at the concierge inside of lugging it along. Anyway we will be checking into the hotel again after the Hangzhou trip.
Before setting off...morning ritual..breakfast. :) We have a choice of having breakfast at KFC which is just next to Sofitel & open 24 hours, or we can have breakfast at MacDonalds. We went for Mac. Surprising, it was already opened for business at 6.30am! Or maybe they too operate 24 hours ?
After about 2 hours or so, we finally arrived at Hangzhou. Initially I was having a hard time choosing a hotel in Hangzhou, thinking that we will be taking public transport. Hence I chose Renhe Hotel as there seem to be really good reviews on this hotel and the fact that it is only a stone throw from the West Lake. What I read in the internet is all correct! This hotel is surrounded by good and famous eatery places and most important, West Lake is just across the road. Evening and early morning stroll is a must to see all the activities going on..from dancing to singing to chess playing etc..It makes one feel that life should be lived like that. In fact, Hyatt Hotel is also along the same stretch of road and have we known that, I may also have considered Hyatt as a possible option. All for the sake of location and minimizing the need for public transport. But no regret staying at Renhe Hotel. Good price, good location, ok reception.
Sweet temptation :)) Everyday, this little candy holder will be refilled, to our delight. heehehehee!
After a quick freshening up, we walked to Grandma's for our lunch. Very easy, out from hotel main entrance, turn right, few short steps, you reach the main road, turn left, walk 3 shops down..there..Grandma's restaurant is there. If you hit the main road and cross it, you are at West Lake!
The queue at Grandma's is seriously no joke ! We waited for like 45 minutes. What we should have done is that after we get the hotel room keys, we should have walked over, get a number and then walked back to the hotel to freshen up. Since the distance is so short. Silly of me not to think of that. :(
Wah...even taking a queue number is computerised!
Not to worry is you do not have a local HP number. U can skip that and wait there, look at the electronic queue number board for your turn. For those who have a local number, an sms will be sent to the number when there is 2 or 3 more to go before your turn.
Meanwhile, when you wait for your turn, popcorns, sweets, drinks etc are provided free of charge. We dare not eat the popcorn. A spoon is provided to scoop the popcorn onto your own palm for self consumption. But waiting diners actually used the spoon and "feed" the popcorns into their own mouth! Ewwwwwww! Excuse Me ! That's digusting!
IMPORTANT TO NOTE : Once your queue number is called, please DO NOT straight away rush upstairs for your table You have to bring your queue receipt to the reception table at ground level for the lady to write a table number behind your queue receipt. We did not know...climbed all the way to the 3rd floor only to be told we must go back down to Level 1 to get the table number written down. GRRRRRRR!!!! Hunger makes me an angry person...but the food was worth all the wait and anger I guess.. SMILE !
Our dishes :
LOL! Long Jing Shrimp...absolutely heavenly. Left 3 more to finish when I suddenly remembered must snap a photo. Fresh....crunchy...fragrance...smooth texture....hint of tea fragrance..ymmmmmmmz!
This fish is nice...but got some tiny bones. May not be suitable for old folks..
A jug of sour plum juice...see those wooden cups behind..these are free tea that is self service from the front counter.
Whole meal costs RMB269/-. Reasonable and good food. Where to find..:)
After a full meal, we crossed the road to West Lake for a short stroll before the driver picks us up at 3.30pm.
That's life at West Lake...
Driver was prompt to pick us up..and we proceed to Lei Feng Pagoda. I personally find nothing fantastic about this place, besides the fact that the Madam White Snake tale was spinned from here. See some remains of the original ruined pagoda, climbed all the up the pagoda (panting !) to get a view of the West Lake..that's about it. Worth a visit still..
Not sure why people throw money over the glass panel onto the ruins...
Some souvenir shops inside the pagoda..
Strangely in Hangzhou, NON hangzhou cars are not allowed on the road from morning 7 to 9 am and afternoon 4.30 - 6.30pm. What logic? I don't know. Since our car is non Hangzhou, our driver has to dropped us at Carrefour for 2 hours. After that we will be going for the West Lake Impression Show...directed by Zhang Yi Mou and music by Kitaro. This is also the highlight of our Hangzhou trip.
Afer a quick dinner at MacDonalds, at 6.30pm, we continue our journey to the place where West Lake Impression will be performed.
All I can say is that though the ticket prices are steep, but the show was really spectacular and take your breath away ! Be careful...when you are approaching the ticketing counter, there are touts who wants to sell you cheaper tickets. I am not sure how genuine those tickets are or if there are any hidden agenda, but don't buy from them. There was a man who approached us and told us RMB40 for each person as he can bring us to" another place" to watch, as compared to the RMB260 per pax. We rejected. LOL! But at the end we realised "other place" means on top of a little hill which oversee the lake. Haiz..since already there, just pay for proper entrance and seat loh..
I did not take many photos as I was too engrossed with the whole display. So dream-like and fairy tale feel! If you like, there are already a lot of videos posted on youtube. Just search for it..
Shops around the entrance area..and yes, there was also a Yang's Dumpling branch here. If need to, can take dinner here before the show starts.
After the show ended, OMG it was crowded at the roadside while many people try to flag for taxis or wait for transport.
At this point, I must stressed that there are a lot of private cars / vans waiting at the roadside trying to get u to take their vehicle for a fixed price. I see many people hassling prices etc...thus it may make more sense to take the public buses if you hotel has a bus stop. Renhe Hotel has a bus that goes directly to the show and same for the return trip to the hotel as well. In this case we won't be at the mercy of those private and illegal vehicles.
After the show, our driver picked us up and we went to He Fang Street for a quick walk. We intend to return to He Fang Street tomorrow too ..
When I first googled for He Fang Street, I got confused a little. I was assuming that this is a "complicated" layout street. When we reached there, I realised that it is a long street street..and whatever recommendation you see on the internet with regards to He Fang Street rest assured that as you walk along this straight street, you can find it there. So, orientation is pretty straight forward, unless of course you choose to explore those side lanes as well. But basically the main attraction and most crowded place will be He Fang Street.
"Drying" fresh tea leaves...
After about 45 minutes of walking, most shops started to close for the day, hence we also returned back to our hotel..to eat those snacks that we've bought and some TV entertainment! More pictures of He Fang Street in the daytime in my Day 4 post. Stay tuned!
LESSON LEARNT
Although in Hangzhou it is possible to go everywhere by taxi, it can be rather frustrating as taxi are not in abundance and during peak hours, it is maddening to wait for one too. I am very lucky that my friend insisted on me using his a business associate's car and driver..otherwise it will also be a nightmare to get public transport. Thus if budget permits, do rent a car to go around in Hangzhou. You don't need a guide ( coz got to pay more). Just rent a car and let the driver know where u want to go. All places of interests comes with English explanation so no worries. With a rented car and driver, you will get to cover more places and also avoid frus to get a cab or wait for a bus. I don't encourage hiring car and driver in Shanghai though because the metro is good enough. Hangzhou is different.
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