.Hangzhou.

After our trip to Beijing, our next 'out of town' trip was to the beautiful city of Hangzhou. We were 'wined and dined' for this trip and it was awesome! We had a driver come and pick us up at our apartment and drive us all the way there. It is a 2 hour car ride from Shanghai to Hangzhou. We stayed at the Hyatt right on West Lake! For a lack of better word, the view was amazing! When we arrived, another of my Dads furniture friends met us for dinner at the hotel. We at some delicious food and had a great time at dinner with Ron, Adam, and their Chinese assistant Rachel.

Rachel had the whole trip planned out for us! She was such a huge help and a lot of fun! The first place we went was to the former residence of Hu Xue Yan. This man started out as a shop assistant but rose his way up to eventually being the richest man in China.

I LOVED sightseeing in Hangzhou because it wasn't overcrowded with tourists like all the other places. We even had some sights all to ourselves. It was great!




It had some of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen! I loved it! Surrounding all the water and flowers, there were also caves that were huge! Built for the children I'm sure. Zack and I loved them. We couldn't get enough!

After the residence, we headed off to the Leifeng Tower, which is actually a Pagoda on West Lake. There is a gorgeous view from the top, and inside as you climb up is the story of the Legend of White Snake. Unfortunately, our camera battery died at the top, but we have some great pictures from right before!!




After the Pagoda, we headed over to the Lingyin Temple Scenic area. We got to go explore more caves, see Buddhas with blue hair, and many many other neat things!







We also got to go on a boat ride on West Lake to some of the little islands on it, and also to some wetlands. We had many boat rides for just one day. Rachel and her husband were awesome to hang out with. We even went over to their apartment to rest and played some ping pong. We also drove through some of the tea fields- such beautiful scenery there. I would highly recommend visiting Hangzhou!





There are so many other pictures and stories I wish I could tell you! Just know that we loved it!