We were BLOWN AWAY by Hangzhou. I think we had low expectations and in every area, it surpassed what we thought it would be. The main attraction in Hangzhou is West Lake. The lake is 13.5 miles in circumference and easily walkable, bu other options exist like electric carts and bicycles. All along the way, you run into famous pagodas, bridges, temples, museums, and places to sit along the lake. It's relaxing and very chill. The people are great. The food is outstanding and prices, believe it or not, were quite inexpensive and reasonable.
After hosting the G20, we thought that the lake and surrounding area would be highly commercialized, but it has maintained a very quiet, quaint and traditional environment. It took us about 10 hours to walk around the entire lake and back to our hotel. It was a long day, but well worth it.
The landscaping and natural beauty of the lake and mountains are breathtaking. Hangzhou is well worth a visit of at least a few days. Try to go during lotus season - it must be even more beautiful with all of the flowers in bloom. We did not have the chance to take a ferry to the islands; it rained one entire day and we ran out of time. We did hear the islands are lovely and being on the lake is a treat.
NEW TO OUR CHANNEL? We are Eileen and Brown Councill. Welcome to our channel and a glimpse into our life adventure! 2020 was a year of uncertainty and change (for all of us, right?), but we overcame the challenges and decided it was time to chase our dream, to sail around the world! Did I mention that we had very NO sailing experience? Before leaving Qingdao, China, our home of 4 years, we sold almost all of our earthly possessions and started our international search to find the right sailboat that we would call "home." After 5 months of unanticipated twists and turns, we found what we were looking for, a used Leopard 44' Catamaran located in St. Lucia.
So, here begins our journey, filled with unmatched excitement and honestly, a bit of trepidation as well. We have much to learn as we travel the world on our floating home and we intend to document that journey and share it with you. We are so glad you have decided to join us, and we hope that you will find our story so compelling that it will inspire you to chase your dreams too!
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All right, so we're back at the airport again. We've got a nice long weekend.
We're off to Hangzhou, which is just west, southwest of Shanghai.
Can't wait!
What are you looking forward to?
I'm looking forward to having a good time with you.
And I'm looking forward to seeing the lake, and the arched bridges,
and the pagoda, and all of the things that make Hangzhou really special.
I've never been on a minibus to get to a plane before.
That's amazing!
This is Mr. Zhou, a friendly local who showed us the traditional foods
we did not want to miss in Hangzhou.
He also took us through one of the most beautiful gates to enter West Lake area.
Hangzhou was the host of the G20 Summit in 2016,
and it sits at the southernmost end of China's famous Grand Canal,
a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and at 1,776 kilometers,
the world's largest canal, which connects the city to Beijing.
As you can see, we started our walk at the northeast side of the lake
and walked towards the Broken Bridge.
Delicious food and drinks were found all around the lake,
and we had a great time trying the local cuisine.
Other than having a beautiful view,
I'm not really sure why the Broken Bridge is so famous.
I've read some stories about it,
but none of them explain why it's actually famous.
Before exploring the Yufei Temple,
we stopped at a local hole-in-the-wall for lunch.
So what you want to do, it's a noodle dish with some fatty spicy pork.
You want to stir it up.
It has some peanuts on it, a little bit of green.
Stir it up, it looks like this.
And we're going to try it.
After exploring the Yufei Temple,
we walked along the causeway to visit the Leifeng Pagoda.
Oh yeah, look at that big old pagoda we're getting ready to go into.
Never taken an escalator to a pagoda before.
This thing is so fancy, there's an escalator.
You excited?
So here's the base of the old pagoda.
It's almost in a museum form.
It reminds me a lot of Xi'an.
And then here's the steel understructure.
We're right under the new pagoda which they built.
Man, I'm sweating.
Just walked up, what?
Six flights of stairs.
To get to the top of this pagoda.
It's overlooking the West Lake.
Man, can't beat it.
Really natural and green around this lake.
It couldn't be done any better.
The landscaping, keeping it traditional.
You just have to come and see it.
Absolutely.
We're about halfway around the lake.
We started at nine o'clock this morning.
Yeah.
And it's been a great day so far.
So we're going to finish up.
And fire in the sky.
After a visit to the stunning Imperial Gardens,
Brown randomly met his Chinese twin on our way to dinner.
It was a beautiful moment.
Here we are in a highly recommended restaurant.
There's a chain of them called Grandma's Ho.
So this is beggar's chicken.
It was a dish named after a beggar who found a chicken,
took river mud, covered in river mud,
and then told the mud to break it.
It's almost like a clay pot.
And it's crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
It's a local dish, very famous here in Hangzhou.
Oh, look.
Wait, I'm going to take my first gnaw.
Man, that's nothing but greasy skin.
Oh, look at that.
Boom.
So good.
So it's wrapped in lotus leaf underneath the clay.
And then to make it really authentic.
Thanks for coming with us on our journey around West Lake.
This is definitely a must-see if you are in China.
And if you enjoyed our video, please hit the like,
or even better, leave us some comments.
And don't forget to subscribe.
