Hangzhou's West Lake

When I first went to China in 2008, I had no idea that I would find the country and its people so attractive - but 7 years later I have a strong connection with China.  Seven years ago I was prepared to go to Vietnam to teach English, but in the January a friend phoned to tell me that there was an urgent need for a teach in China.  I told her I was not interested, but at her urging I went to meet the recruiters, and as I now say, "the rest is history".  Within a few weeks I was winging my way to China.

The second week I was there one of the other Australian's and I went to Hangzhou.  He had notes with all the details in English and Chinese, that we had hoped would make the trip easy, but as it turned out we had challenges frequently, though did manage to have a good time, and get back to the university in Shaoxing on one of the last buses.

So here I was back in Hangzhou in 2015 - alone - but determined to see as much as I could of the West Lake, where Mike and I had been nearly 7 years ago.

I stayed at the Westlake Bokai Hotel - not one of the most salubrious of hotels, but ok for me.  It was a short walk to the West Lake and one day I set off to revisit some of the places that I had become familiar with over the years.  It was a cool day, and the fog hung over the lake when I arrived.

The foggy Lake at around 9 am

Three Birds in the Fog

Birds in the Fog

Walking beside the Lake

Emperor

You can barely see the lake behind hidden in the fog.
Bamboo Ladders against the tree

Bamboo 

Snow from a couple of days earlier s

Bridge over a pond 
I walked and took photos for several hours.  My Fitbit tells me that I walked for over 3 hours and travelled nearly 13 kms.  It was a pleasant walk.  More photos to come.

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