Vibes of Hangzhou (II)

Jacket / Geaca - Primark || Sweatshirt / Bluza - Bershka || Jeans / Blugi - Zara || 

Headband / Bentita de par - Bershka || Earrings / Cercei - Stradivarius || 

Boots / Cizme - UGG || Sunglasses / Ochelari de soare - Stradivarius 

Yes yes, it's Sunday and I don't normally post during the weekends but this week everything got a bit messed up and I thought it would be just perfect for you to read the second part of our Hangzhou story while you have your morning coffee. :) Plus that I couldn't wait to show you these photos which are my favourites from this trip. And the third reason is that I still have to show you some new outfits next week and at the end of the week we go on another trip. So busy times ahead. :D

The second day in Hangzhou was sunny and even warmer, so yay to that..we were able to see everything we planed on Friday night and probably even more. We started the day as usual, with a yummy breakfast at the hotel, after which we decided to go on the other side of the lake to see the famous little pagoda (?) which you can see in the photos below. We wanted to get there as early as possible because we knew that the place will get more and more crowded and even if it was around 10:30 am when we got there you can see that the place wasn't exactly empty. However, with some patience, we managed to take some lovely photos, fact which most likely would have not been possible during the afternoon.

After that we got back to the hotel and ordered a taxi which was to take us to Longjing Village (Dragon Well Village) which is famous for the green tea grown here. The whole region consists in fact of more villages, tea plantations, tea houses, parks and a temple. The village is very picturesque, with small restaurants / terraces where you can enjoy a cup of tea and the locals even invite you in their homes to taste the famous Longjing Tea. As tempting as that sounded, we were eager to see the tea plantations as it was the first time for us, so we continued our road until we saw a small path which enabled us to go up the hill. From up there the view was amazing and besides that, the sun was shining, green rows of tea bushes everywhere you looked around and the blue sky - the feeling was unbeatable. :)
   

We could have stayed there the whole day but we still had some things to see so the next point of interest was the China National Tea Museum, just a few kilometres away. Another impressive place which tells you the history of growing and production of tea, the many types of tea which exist, but also the pottery they use for drinking tea. This museum is the only one in the country with the tea theme and I find it to be very well documented and beautifully constructed. The entrance is free and at the end of the tour you also get to taste four types of tea and also buy the ones you liked best. Great experience!

We could not have left Hangzhou without seeing the International Conference Centre and the other lovely skyscrapers as I am totally fascinated of these amazing huge buildings. The only thing I can complain of is that when we wanted to return to the hotel we couldn't find a taxi. The taxis would either don't stop, or when we showed them the address they just didn't want to take us there. At one point this was getting pretty annoying and so we walked the whole 7km (or more) back. However, I read afterwards that this is quite common for Hangzhou and if you don't go the same direction as the taxi you stopped, well though luck my friend, they won't take you. I guess here it's the other way around, you have to go the same direction as the taxi goes not the taxi in your direction :)).

Well, at least I was able to take some photos of the lake and its bridges at night as well. :)

I could also make a part 3 of this story with some photos taken on Sunday in the hotel's gardens but I'm not sure I'll manage as I still want to show you some new outfits and, as I said, next weekend will already be all about another city. We'll see..but until then, let me know if you enjoyed this post :)

Kisses, A. Have a lovely Sunday!