Hangzhou (28th October 2015)

Hangzhou could have been a stunning city, if not for the haze. We had a cruise on West Lake and a short walk through the streets and gardens.

We visited Lingyin Temple. I'm told it means "Inspired Seclusion". Hold on. Let's examine that.
Secluded: adj. not seen or visited by many people; sheltered and private.
Okay. Maybe it's just inspired.

These bronze statues were fascinating. So much work.They called this the Hall of the Five Hundred Arhats.

After a decidedly lack-luster lunch we visited a tea farm for a tea tasting. Sounded good till they put us all in a room, closed the doors, and served up the green tea hard sell infomercial, complete with all the woo-based claims about the health benefits of green tea and a bogus "detoxing" experiment with iodine, rice and hot water. (At least this web example has a control. In the experiment we saw, there was no control -- she poured out the black water and simply added green tea.)

Needless to say, it was more than the green tea that left a bad taste in my mouth.

Late afternoon: YAP (Yet Another Pagoda.) This time, the Liuhe Pagoda, or the Six Harmonies Pagoda.

I decided not to ascend this lighthouse. Instead I wandered up through the gardens behind and looked at the mini pagodas and statues.

 

 

No, he's not showing his tea drinking posture, he's practising his shadow puppetry.