I can only play chopsticks!: Why can't the seals at Hangzhou lake swim?

So, here I am, travelling at over 300km an hour on my way back to Shanghai after a weekend (well, Tuesday and Wednesday) in Hangzhou. I realise there's a bit of a gap between what was happening in my last post and this one but if I wait until I'm caught up with everything to write about what's happeneing now, you'll hear about it when I'm 40. Not to worry though, I'll keep dropping in little time capsule catch-ups every now and then to fill you in on what happened in the intervening months.

I spent the last 2 days in Hangzhou, about an hour's train ride south west of Shanghai, looking at temples, strolling around forests and generally getting down to some serious culture soaking up. I arrived in Hangzhou later than I had planned as I got food poisoning the day before I was planning to come - don't drink lukewarm chicken soup from tiny restaurants. It's delicious but deadly! Fortunately I felt better by the next day and headed over to Hongqiao south railway station on the metro.

I booked my tickets using the phrase I had cherry-picked out of the dictionary app on my phone, all the while being watched by an incredulous local, who had decided to join me at the ticket window to enjoy the 'laowai trying to book a train ticket' show.I walked away with a ticket in hand for the 1030 train and possibly a greater sense of acheivement than was necessary after booking a train ticket. Trials of Hercules? Pah! I spoke Chinese to a ticket vendor!

As there was still about an hour before my train, I headed to a restaurant for some early morning chicken and noodles in a restaurant called Tomato Girl and got my breakfast on while the creep anime logo stared me out. I arrived in Hangzhou at about 1130 and was met by Sydney, a teacher who'd trained in our centre for a while before coming to Hangzhou. We grabbed a taxi to her school, located in a shopping centre, adorned with images of Doraemon because of some expo.

The Rooftop, complete with view

The wetlands from the roof

Sydney headed to class and I headed to the roof, armed with my KFC - nothing like a bout of food poisoning to make to revert to the state of 'Wimpy Westerner' when it comes to food. The view from the roof was fantastic. If Bilbo wanted to see mountains again, he had no need of Rivendell, just a couple of escalators to the roof of your friendly neighbourhood shopping centre in hangzhou. From the other side of the roof you could see the wetlands stretching away to the distant highrises of the city but here I was right in amongst the greenery. Admittedly on the roof of a huge shopping complex

Hangzhou West Lake

Old Folky Karaoke

Hangzhou Water Taxi

From there (not the roof) I caught a taxi to 杭州西湖 or Hangzhou West Lake and walked along the water, feeling greatly relieved at being away from the grey towers, sparkling lights and incessant beeping of Shanghai as I watched Chinese tourist being ferried around the lake in little water taxis and old folks busting out some serious outdoor 'Karafolkie', which is the best word I can think of to describe the singing of traditional Chinese songs being balsted out over the mic at volume by the pensioner brigade. After a little while, and some oggling of old tombs and statues, I came to the Xiling seal society, part of the 'State Protected Intangible Cultural Heritage' - fancy. The place was phenomenal! Winding paths with etchings and carving on any piece of stone that had stayed still long enough. I wandered around the hillside, surrounded by bamboo trees, up and down the little stone steps, occasionally stopping here and there. I had a chat with the man in the museum of seals and managed to discuss the fact that I was from England and he was from Hangzhou, he liked the English, and that being from Cambridge (well kind of, right?) results in being awarded the knowing smile and nod of approval. I also ran into a young shaven headed lad doing some painting with a calligraphy brush and he said he was happy for me to take a quick snap of him in action - go tourism!

From there I headed up the hill to a small courtyard hewn out of the rock of the hill. There was a stunning view over the lake and I got a picture taken while I was there, favouring the work of the friendly artist over my selfie taking abilities. I also encountered the laziest Koy Carp I have ever seen. Apart from the odd twitch here and there, they could have been props. The pace of life out there is a tad slower - even the fish have figured it out.

Here' a look at what I saw: