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!

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Vibes of Hangzhou (I)

Jacket / Geaca - Stradivarius || Sweater / Pulover - HERE / AICI || Shirt / Camasa - H&M || Jeans / Blugi - Stradivarius || Hat / Caciula - Stradivarius || Sunglasses / Ochelari de soare - Stradivarius

As you probably know by now, we moved to Shanghai in January and along with this life-changing experience we also try to discover and see as much of this country as possible during our time here. So last weekend we went on a trip to Hangzhou, a city situated south-west from Shanghai, just 180km away. We took the high-speed train from here and in about 1h 15m we were in Hangzhou and the weather was looking pretty good for the weekend. In fact, the whole weekend was sunny and pleasant, just on Friday was a bit colder (you can notice my look for the day). The only disadvantage was that the air quality index (air pollution) was pretty high the whole weekend, fact which can be noticed in some of the photos too (they are a bit white-ish). 

To tell you some words about the city, Hangzhou is the capital of China's Zhejiang province and it's the southern terminal part of the ancient Grand Canal waterway, which originates in Beijing. The main attraction of the city is definitely the West Lake, which was celebrated by poets and writers since the 9th century and which can be seen in most of today's photos. :) The lake also has some islands which are reachable by boats and the city hosts several temples, pavilions, gardens and arched bridges. So we decided to spend this first day by taking long walks around the lake and admiring the lovely landscape, after which we went to see the Lingyin Temple, which is one of the most famous ones in Hangzhou. This temple is situated in the forest and is surrounded by many beautiful Chinese gardens along with some smaller temples and even an old village (which was sadly closed when we got there). I think we spent there more than two hours and we didn't manage to see everything, but we loved what we did see. What I love most about these temples and their surroundings is the calm & quiet vibes they give you. 

Anyway, another point of interest we saw on Friday was the 5-storey Leifeng Pagoda, which is in fact a reconstructed tower of the initial one built in 975 A.D. It is located on the Sunset Hill south of West Lake and to be honest we only saw this one from below as our hotel was located at the foot of the hill. Moreover when we saw the amount of tourists wandering its terraces we said a big NO and moved along, trying to find something less crowded. :)) 

As in for my outfit, it's nothing very spectacular, just something comfy and warm one would wear when visiting a new place which is more about nature and less about buildings and fashion :). I am a huge coats fan, as you probably already know, so I didn't actually own a padded jacket until now, when I found this one on Sale and decided that it is about time to get one and give it a go. I find these ones to be a bit casual and sportish for my taste, but they are very handy in winter when it's super cold. I tried to find a way of wearing it without being too sportish and still be a bit chic so I chose to layer some pieces, like the long shirt and a sweater, which I paired with black jeans and accessories. Finally I also added a cute beanie with patches and my new fave pair of sunglasses.

I leave you now with the ton of photos and I will be back with some new stories and photos from our second day there. 

Hugs, A.

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