Hangzhou—China

I recently spent the weekend in Hangzhou. Hangzhou is known for its lovely lake, called West Lake. We took a boat ride on the lake, and one of the viewpoints from the ride is the same image that is on the back of the Chinese one-dollar bill! Such a cool experience to see the origins of such a prominent picture. Hangzhou is very much a tourist city and some parts of the city had the feel of a town where people buy their second home, very high-end and classy. Everything was beautiful. My friends and I went to the Lingyin Temple while there. Such an amazing experience to see all of the relics and the buildings and architecture was gorgeous! The whole temple was painted in a bright yellow color that just made you feel happy while being there. And the contrast of that with the solemn monks seemed ironic to me. We also went to a bamboo garden, the bamboo towered over us and created much more of a forest than a garden. The place was actually referred to as the bamboo sea because of the amount of bamboo and the vast area it covered! Hangzhou is also very well known for their growth of some of the most prestigious green tea. Throughout history emperors have come to Hangzhou just for the green tea it produces! I walked through green tea bushes and tasted the tea, and I must say it was delicious!

Thanks for reading! :)