day 4

Didn't really do much today, which I am thankful for as the first 2 days kind of drained me. I went to pick up the luggage at ChangZhou airport. It was really really tiny and they just put my bag in the airport personnel office. Thank goodness everything worked out in the end. only now did my heart finally calm down.

After picking up the luggage, we took the long distance bus to HangZhou, which is the hometown of the renowned scenic park, Westlake 西湖. M's best friend Sun has an apartment there so we are going to visit her and various tourists spots around. The bus took about 2.5 hours and it was not as comfortable as the train but it can't be helped as HangZhou is in a different province and there are no direct trains. I am really looking forward to touring the lake as there are thousands years of history around this lake and it is just full of ancient temples and gardens.

Of course some banquets were involved later for dinner. HangZhou's food is very delicate and mild. the people here are very big on the easy lifestyle, they have much more discerning taste than the much smaller city of ChangZhou. The entire city is very well organized and there are greeneries everywhere. I think it is a great town to vacation in.

During the banquet I have decided I must forgo the planned trip to Huangshan as I was just exhausted from the nonstop action the past 2 days. After experiencing a little bit of HangZhou, I have decided to spent a few leisurely days here to just sit and soak in the people and history. But before that, there is still one more day trip to make. tomorrow, we are going to visit the famous YaoLin caves.