Hangzhou

Last weekend we took our first overnight family trip away from Shanghai. We went to a town about 2 1/2 hours away called Hangzhou. This is a very popular tourist town because it is beautiful and there are so many things to see and do you could really keep busy for quite a while. We were mostly interested in getting to a place where we could be surrounded by nature again, and away from the city. Although Hangzhou itself is a fairly large city (only about 6.5 million people!) there is a beautiful lake called west lake (or Xi Hu) and lots of hills to hike around in. We stayed at the Shangri La on West Lake, and spent our first day just walking on the causeways across the lake, and taking ferry boats between the little islands on it. Ryan loved being in his backpack/stroller and he was quite a trooper, even taking his naps while we were on the go. Hangzhou has been in existence as a city since 221 BC, and there are so many amazing bits of history all around. The pictures above are of the lake and the causeways. The next picture is on one of the little islands in the lake called Xiaoying island. This island has it's own lake in the middle and a "nine turn" causeway which Conor is standing on in the picture.

Day two we went to Linyin Temple, roughly translated as the Temple of the Soul's Retreat. The temple was built in 326, but due to "war and other calamities" it has had to be rebuilt at least 16 times. The temple buildings and courtyard are really nicely maintained, and are still home to Buddhist monks. Many of the visitors were there to say prayers and light incense, and the whole area had a quiet, relaxing atmosphere. Although there were other tourists around it was not as crowded as we have heard it can be. My favorite part of the day was hiking in the hills around the temple where there are 470 Buddhist carvings lining the riverbanks and hillsides. The carvings date from the 10th to the 14th centuries, and are really amazing.















Here are some pictures from our hike in the hills. The one where Conor and I are sitting with Ryan is in front of a famous laughing Maitreya Buddha

These pictures are in front of the main Temple building. The big pot behind us had a fire in it where people first lit their incense and then threw in the remainders after their prayers.














And this is a window that we thought was really cool...










We had a really nice weekend, and I am sure we will go back again to see even more.