Day 4 - ZhouZhuang Water Village

Sharon pointed out to me that we must not miss Zhouzhuang since we are already in Shanghai.

Zhouzhuang which is situated between Shanghai and Suzhou and only an hour drive from Shanghai, is actually a nice ancient water village, with many old houses with unique courtyards, canals and boats.

These houses are linked with pathways and arch fateways which present quite a unique view, which you can see as appended below.

If I'm not mistaken, these beautiful structures can be traced way back to the Ming and Qing Dynasties (if I'm wrong, can someone please correct this! --- I'm lousy @ history!!!)

The trip to zhouZhuang would not be complete without the mention of FOOD..

We had some simple local delicacies as pictured below. But one thing worth mentioning here is the cute little fish that resemble the priceless fugo fish. Of course, it is not fugo; it is known as barbel fish.

Its liver is so yummy.... Sharon dislike it though!

I also noticed some spelling blunder in their menu. See if you can spot them!

Day 3 - Exploring Hangzhou's Natural Beauty

The Alluring Beautiful West Lake (Xi Hu)

An old Chinese saying : "There is heaven above, Suzhou and Hangzhou below."




This lake and its surrounding is a GIANT scale traditional Chinese garden.

The panorama is just so pleasing. Like Sharon rightly put it - It would be wonderful without the crowd!










The area around the lake was full of people, but the scene of wooden boat against the hazy pagoda and mountain, the willow trees swaying and the refreshing breeze really dazzled me.
























Well, we didn't have time to explore the rest of the West Lake, including the Leifengta (The Lei Fang Pagoda) and the shrine to remember the hero General Yuefei. But this may be a good excuse to come back again, next year, perhaps??

Day 2 - Dinner at Crystal Jade

Although tired, we decided to go out for a quick bite. After all, this is the only dinner that we have in Hangzhou.

Furthermore, how can I miss the "Tung Po" meat, which Hanzhou is famous for. Here are a few shots of what we had for dinner that nite.

Crystal Jade is a very cosy and the ambience is very nice. Here is a shot of the indoor garden where I was sitted.





The food that we ordered were as follows:

1. Appetiser - radish (very crunchy, but a bit sourish)
2. Lotus root filled with glutinous rice. Something very extraordinary, but it is too sweet to my liking.




3. The vegetable soup was superb. The vegetable I believe is being coated with potato starch or tang min flour that make its texture very special - crunchy

4. Tung poh meat - something we should not miss. It was wonderfully fat -- too much to Sharon's liking. But I enjoyed it very much!






We ordered another chicken dish for Jing Ven, but unfortunately it was a bit hot for her. That's why she was showing her tantrums that nite.

Day 2 - Travelling to Hangzhou

It was still rainy when we left home. Traffic was bad, especially during Friday and this was further accentuated with the rain.

Taking a train to Hangzhou is a whole experience for me, and Sharon of course. Sharon is so "human-phobia" - guess she's not used to see so many human beings at one spot!

Anyway, we bought First-Class ticket, that only cost Rmb 64 (bout RM35) for a very comfortable ride. Don't worry Sharon, no need to rush with the Chinanese!

Upon arrival at the hotel, everyone is really exhausted.

But Sharon is still so lively, and posed so beautifully at the lounge area.