4 September 2012
Rivers of mud
It didnt stop raining. But it never really rained enough to convince me I would get wet. However it did rain enough that the massive construction effort that is going on produced rivers of mud in the street.
I washed my feet in the sink as soon as I returned home! Who knows whats in that mud.
I also actually found it difficult to find dinner, for the first time in China. Many of the places I went to in hope were either under construction or part of a 'soft open' which means only starbucks has opened.
Eventually I did find a...wait for it, beef noodle restaurant in a basement. Yesterday was a noodle free day so in some ways, I was overdue.
Its not as bad as all that though, towards the end of my 4.5 hour brisk walk I realised I should have walked in the other direction, which seems largely finished.
Its hard to have a first impression of Hangzhou, I think with all the rain and difficulty in getting here I was a bit too mentally exhausted to think about it.
Mental exhaustion is caused by Chinese slippery footpaths, crossing roads in the rain with scooters trucks and busses flying past, and 4 foot high people with seas of umbrellas!
OK thats enough internal reflection (whatever that means).
Behind one of the mega under construction areas, the Chinese take on a wheel barrow.
Part of the sea of mud cause. This is the main street, or was and will be once the under construction Metro is finished.
My dinner courtesy of Master Kong. I have been to the same franchise in Beijing before. It is good. I was especially excited about the carrot because with rain and people with either no headlights or headlights on high beam, I needed to see in the dark.
I walked far out of the city to get my bearings. It worked. To the right of frame is where I should have been. Predictably this is where the west lake is.
I am often amazed at just how many very large stores Chanel and Louis Vuitton need. Every Chinese city has multiple stores like this, all of them seem to have no one in them. I know theres a lot of people but whos buying all the handbags?
I guess they have double the sales of other countries because most men seem to need to carry a handbag too. I might get one. Red faux snakeskin I think.
Hopefully I will have more better quality pictures tomorrow when its not raining!