Wonders of China: Hangzhou

On to day 3! Last day in Hangzhou. A Do and I slept in being so tired from the night before but Chen Chen and Lincoln were up pretty early. They headed downstairs to eat breakfast as A Do did some yoga and I washed my hair. By the time we got downstairs they had finished breakfast so we just hung out and played around with A Do’s new drum and the guitars they had at the hostel.

After a bit, Chen Chen and Lincoln left to go buy the train tickets for that evening so A Do and I had breakfast on our own (or more like brunch) at the hostel’s cafe. He got a delicious club sandwich and I got some amazing French toast.

I had to teach A Du how to hold a fork and
knife while cutting, it was a first experience for him.

A Do had never had French toast before so we split our meals and shared, and he loved it. After brunch we walked down the street to meet up with Chen Chen and Lincoln. The line was too long and they couldn’t get the train ticket, so we decided to just worry about it later. We had debated going on the bike ride we never got to go on around the lake, or go to the temple which was closed the night before. We finally decided on going to a different temple that was close to our hostel, just down a few blocks actually. We met up with them there and enjoyed a beautiful Sunday morning on the grounds of a Buddhist temple.

Chen Chen was a little worried that because I’m not Buddhist like them, I wouldn’t appreciate going to the temple and might feel uncomfortable. I assured her that I loved being there and felt peace and joy to be in such a beautiful place. I did not kneel at the alters nor burn incense like they did, but I enjoyed it and took plenty of pictures.

It was beautiful, but it’s hard for me to find a place where they sell food and souvenirs and you have to pay to get inside much of a holy and sacred place. I don’t know much about Buddhism so A Do explained a lot to me and told me about the different alters and statues and the monks there. We got separated from Lincoln and Chen Chen for a bit, but found them again in a small area surrounded by trees up above the other temples. It was such a cute scene as we found Lincoln praying and Chen Chen sweeping away the fallen leaves.

I wandered off on my own and found a quite place in the trees near a beautiful archway, where I took some time to pray and enjoy a peaceful Sabbath in nature. After some nice quiet time and meditation, we got down to business with picture taking. Most of the pictures taken at this small alter were on Lincolns camera, so I don’t yet have copies, but I did get a few good ones.

We took some fun yoga poses and jumping shots and I enjoyed being barefoot for a while.

There was a little boy who saw us jumping around and started imitating Lincoln and A Do, it was so cute! Chen Chen was trying to get some pictures of him jumping but he was pretty shy, maybe she got one or two though. After spending maybe a good hour or so at this beautiful alter in the mountains, we headed back down.

In the courtyard of the temple we rested and enjoyed tofu on a stick as well as some Hangzhou moon cakes. I’ve had some pretty good moon cakes in Shanghai, but none as amazing as these. They’re filled with sesame seeds and some sort of vegetable mix and were just a little bit sweet. So good! So I bought a box to bring home with me, I should’ve bought 3 or 4 though. We had already checked out of the hostel but left our suitcases there, so we headed back there to get our things and rest a little bit before we returned home.

We all fell asleep on the couches and woke up a little worried about the time,but we were ok. We headed out and said goodbye to that beautiful little hostel and attempted to get a taxi to the train station. The streets were so crowded and busy and traffic was so bad. I was actually pretty glad we were leaving because so many other people were arriving for the holiday week, it wasn’t nearly as peaceful as the first two days. We attempted to grab a taxi but ended up walking for 45 minutes before we actually got one. At the train station there were no high speed train tickets left so we bought the next best ones, which were cheaper, it was only about a 10 minute longer trip, and a nice train. We ate at KFC (as you can tell KFC is quite popular in China, you can find them everywhere) in a rush and then headed to the train. While on the train we were trying to get chicken and corn out of our teeth so I grabbed a few floss picks from my suitcase. Apparently they have never even heard of floss in China...haha awesome, huh?

So they were pretty fascinated by these floss picks, it was pretty funny. Chen Chen’s gums started bleeding a little bit and she started to freak out a little bit, but I assured her that was normal since it was the first time she had flossed in her whole life. Wow.

It was a nice train ride back as I chatted with A Do about life and spirituality (in a non-preaching about my religion way). It was depressing to be back in Shanghai, the cement jungle, no more trees and green, but life goes on, right? While on the subway A Do attempted to tell me he liked me, but Chinese people are so shy so he didn’t really say it in a direct way, which I was ok with. I just smiled and smoothly changed the subject. But as some of you may have guessed by now, yes, I have a crush on A Do. But no worries, I don’t plan on getting a boyfriend while I’m in China, I just enjoy his company and he’s super cool. He offered to get off at my transfer stop with me and help me carry my bag up all the stairs to the next subway lines but I assured him I’d be fine, although my arms are feeling it today. My bag was quite heavy and I climbed 7 flights of stairs with that thing, plus my backpack.

It was nice to be back in my apartment where I talked with mom for a while before heading to bed. This morning I slept in and worked on some more homework. I am almost caught up on my Communications class and it’s only been a few days since I got my books and packet, wow I’m good. Hopefully I can get caught up on my other class too, but it doesn’t really have a strict time line like this other one. I’ve had a nice relaxing day, unpacking, cleaning, homework, blogging, uploading pictures to Facebook, exploring my area a bit more, and went out to lunch. While I was out getting groceries, I looked down a street and realized I had never been down there before. I was going to go back to my apartment but was quite intrigued by this little street, so I headed down. It was pretty ghetto and very Chinese. Men playing pool on the sidewalk, tiny stores with less then a few feet to move around in, children scaring chickens, stray dogs eating trash in the gutters, the whole shebang. I didn't take any pictures, not because I didn't have my camera, but because I was already getting stared at enough being the only white person in the area. So, I headed back home after plenty of stares from this crowded, smelly street and have been mostly blogging and prepping for work tomorrow. I am not excited to teach three classes in a row which I am not prepared for....pray for me. But the good news is that I only work half day tomorrow and Jillian Newell is in Shanghai! We are going to hang out (hopefully, if we can get a hold of each other) and I’m so stoked to see her! She will be here all week and I’m pretty sure her hostel is super close to my apartment. I’m so excited!

So there you have my Hangzhou adventures. It was an amazing and beautiful place with some amazing and beautiful people and I never wanted to leave. One of the best weekends ever. I’m grateful for all my awesome opportunities I’m able to have here in China and am grateful for the love and support I’m getting from back home. I miss you all and will be excited to see you in just a couple months! Next week, I’ll only have 2 months left. Isn’t that just crazy ridiculous?

Well, I love you all. Farewell. Zai Jian!

Love, Alyssa Escalante

P.s. General Conference will be broadcast here in China next week, so I didn’t miss it, don’t worry. I also heard about the new Provo Tabernacle Temple! Wow, I’m so excited! Awesome!

More pictures from our last day in Hangzhou...