FOR YOUR INFORMATION:



For your reference, this new blog - SOJOURN2 - started seven pages back with the title NEW JAY AND AL BLOG - APRIL 4th and includes more photos of Shanghai and Hangzhou..

Somehow in the transition to the new blog I lost my narrative regarding our two days in Hangzhou.  We broke up our week in Shanghai by traveling to Hangzhou for two days.  It is only an hour and twenty minutes by high speed train from Shanghai and the West Lake is famous for its beauty.  So off we went and we were glad we did.  We arrived at our hotel by the Lake at about 3:30 pm and immediately set out to explore some of the Lake.  You can see by the photos that it is a tranquil, beautiful setting.  Since it was so warm we decided to take the little electric tram that circles the very large lake.  We alighted at a large pagoda where there was an information booth. Believe it or not, the girl who spoke no English had never heard of the "Impression" spectacle that is presented each night - rain or shine at the Lake - its claim to fame.  But we had a photo that we showed her and she pointed to the other side of the lake.  We got back on the tram at the next large tourist area and there it was.  We found out that we could eat at a nearby lakeside restaurant and buy the tickets at a discount and that is what we did.  We had fresh fish in a vinegar and sweet/sour sauce that was really delicious.  The menu was in Chinese but one girl in the restaurant spoke some English and we managed to communicate.  As you can see by the photos, the spectacle was truly that and we loved it.  However, after the performance we realized we had made a cardinal sin in China.  Never leave your hotel without the name of the hotel written in Chinese.  We tried to get several cab drivers to just drive us around the lake in the hope that we would find our hotel but they refused.  Crazy foreigners.  Finally a cab driver took pity on us and we kept circling the lake until we found the hotel with a great sigh of relief.
Hangzhou is an amazing city with many high rollers.  At present on the main boulevard that borders the lake they are opening car dealerships for Ferrari, Aston Martin and BMW.  They also have very high class "night clubs" where men with means can enjoy beautiful girls who are there waiting.  The city is in the midst of a great building boom and it will probably soon rival Shanghai.
After two days we boarded the train and returned to Shanghai and explored more of the city.