"Up above in heaven there's paradise and down on earth there're Suzhou and Hangzhou."
West Lake (XiHu) is very famous in China, not just because of its amazing view but also because of a love story that has passed on for many generations in China, a beautiful chinese folk story. The story is called 'Legend of the White Snake'. Its about a young boy who saved a white snake from a hunter. Many thousand years later the snake gained magical ability and transformed into a beautiful woman. She then went to the West Lake to search for the boy who saved her to pay him gratitude. She walked around the West Lake for days and eventually found him on the Broken Bridge with the help of the Buddha. They then shared a boat on the West Lake and watched sunset together. As expected they eventually married each other and gave birth to a son who is a reincarnation of a god.
We took a boat ride, slow and nice, in the November breeze. West Lake is a peaceful manmade resevoir but not as mighty and majestic as Lake Powell in Arizona. Theres something artificial about manmade lakes that doesnt quite fit my list of places to visit actually.
So...do you like tea? If you want to learn more about the tea culture, Longjing (Dragon Well) Tea Plantation is a good place to visit. This is the place where Chinese embrace all things tea related. I learned so much about tea culture in 1.5hrs. Firstly, the tea is not supposed to be covered by boiling water because that kills all the vitamins as well as the flavor. The water is supposed to be hot, but not boiling. Bring the steam closer to your face and it cures dry eyes. Secondly, the first steeping is meant to be smelled and admired for its color. Only the second steeping is to be sipped. The tea leaves can be used 5 more times and usually they are eaten and not thrown out (good source of carbs aka antidote for constipation). Best time to drink tea is half hour after a meal. Thirdly, when an attendant or a host fills your cup you are supposed to tap the table three times, which means 'xie xie ni' (thank you). I forgot to ask why they tap the table instead of verbally expressing it.
While we were enjoying our freshly brewed aromatic cup of green tea, the host told us all about the miraculous properties of tea. Tea, young green tea especially, is full of vitamins and polyphenol antioxidants. Drinking green tea or consuming green tea extract reduces cholesterol and regulates blood sugar levels. She demonstrated to us just how well tea can purify/detox our bodies from the inside. It was a very persuasive demo and everyone was awestruck with oohs and aahs.
"Drink green tea every day and you will live 100 years!" This was how the host concluded her presentation and how I got sucked into spending $200 worth of tea even though I'm not even remotely an avid tea enthusiast.
Hangzhou 11/24/12