Hangzhou and some challanging grub

Hangzhou is a city of circa 6 million and is famous throughout China as a place of outstanding natural beauty. The West Lake, which my hotel overlooked, is probably its most famous sight. When I was there the weather was hazy and humid.
The light was flat and grey and any pictures of note were beyond my ability. I had a couple of hours, walked a bit, sweat like a bovine and snapped away.
Here's the result.

Not a bad place and certainly greener than other places in China I've been, but somehow I expected it to be a bit more dramatic. I'd heard lots of advance press on the place and I suppose the weather contributed to the deflated reaction I had to this city of poets and artists.

I'm probably a bit jaded.

I attended a couple of dinners, and being a provincial capital, the food really made few allowances for a western palate.

One thing I noticed was there was no rice.

"Rice is the food of the poor" I was told and for big events isn't the "done" thing.

I like rice.

But as you all know I AM a man of the poor.

This strangely enough (given the reasoning above) is called "Beggars Chicken" and is a famous dish in the region. The story goes that it originated from the practice of poor people packing chickens in clay to cook in an open fire.

"It's cooked in dirt" I was told.

It doesn't look very nice as the flesh has a grey-ish tinge.

I can say it was tender to the point of falling off the bone with the touch of a chopstick.

The "touch of a chopstick".

I'm sooo in tune with the culture in the Middle Kingdom huh?

Gave this one a miss.and this one.
Duck tongues taste far easier than they look.

No I just couldn't.
That's it.

I'm back in HK and after a full day tomorrow, head back to the UK in the wee hours of Friday morning.

Sunday I'll head to Berlin after (I hope) a fun-filled weekend with my daughter.Have a great weekend everyone.

T

Hangzhou, China

Just a quick post to say hello.
I'm in Hangzhou in North Eastern China. Its "small" as Chinese cities go (5 million people) .
I arrived after the 2 hour flight from HK to 97 degrees and guys in coveralls, masks and latex gloves who boarded the plane and zapped everyone with hand held thermometers. Given the engines were off and the heat outside was stifling it's a wonder that as packed as the flight was we didn't all fail.
Given their experience with SARs a few years ago, I think the Chinese can be forgiven for being ultra cautious.
There were a couple of tourists in HK who were diagnosed with Swine flu last week and the government responded by putting a whole hotel on shutdown quaranteen for 7 days. One of the unfortunate guests had some "paid for company" with him who ended up staying the duration.
All I have time for today are these pics snapped from the hotel balcony.
More as and when, but as of right now I'm 20 minutes late for the usual business dinner of strange grub.
Love to all
T