The stench of cigarette smoke was nasty despite the fact that our room was non-smoking. It was disappointing. I’m glad we only stayed in that hotel one night but I really would have liked to stay in Hangzhou longer. It is a beautiful and vibrant city. After another lovely buffet breakfast we were loaded onto the bus and headed for West Lake – right in the middle of the city. The streets following the lake shore are lined with sycamore trees giving the area a very genteel feel. We were told the story of the Long Bridge – where two young lovers committed suicide because their love was forbidden by their families. A beautiful pagoda overlooks the lake from the opposite shore. We watched a couple of small herons land nearby and were able to get a few good pictures.
From here the bus took us up into the rolling hills to visit a tea farm. The tea bushes are planted in neat rows of terracing. The leaves are hand-picked and hand-rubbed before the drying process. There are three types of tea – non-fermented (green), fermented (black) and oolong. We were given a demo of green tea and all its healing qualities. The young woman giving the talk was extremely knowledgeable which meant that her sales pitch was very convincing. She elaborated on the many health benefits of green tea. One thing I learned was that you don’t pour boiling water directly on the tea leaves. You boil it but then let it cool a bit before pouring. Also, the loose leaf is better than tea bags because the leaves tend to be of better quality. The older, broken leaves end up in the tea bags. After the talk we were encouraged to buy and Rosalind somehow miscalculated the exchange – ending up spending far more than she had bargained for. Dave, Dawne and I split one can of leaves which still cost us $60.
The rest of the day was spent travelling by bus back to Shanghai airport then catching a domestic flight to the Yangtze. The plane was a Boeing 737 (but not a Max 8) and was actually nicer than Air Canada. At least I felt the seats had a bit more room. I was so comfortable that I actually fell asleep and the stewardess had a heck of a time trying to wake me up when we were coming in for a landing.
From the airport we were loaded onto a bus. By now it was dark so we couldn’t see much of Yichang. We drove for about an hour through hills and tunnels to the Yangtze where we were welcomed on board the boat with some kind of tea and warm wet towels.
Our room is fairly small but it is fine. We have a balcony giving a view of the lights of Sandouping in the Yiling District.
The group of eight who upgraded headed to the bar where we bought a package of 6 beer for 200 yuan – not much of a bargain but such is life. We bantered back and forth enjoying each other’s company until the party finally broke up after midnight.
Too bad they didn’t provide the promised fruit basket cuz most of us had not had any supper.