By Liu Linlin
If you believe the only thing worth visiting in Hangzhou is the West Lake, you are making a big mistake. April is the perfect time to travel to the traditional Eastern city, famous for its blossoms, green tea and, perhaps most importantly of all, relaxation.
Spring blossoms
It was just before Qingming Festival – Tomb-Sweeping Day – that I arrived in the city. The weather was delightfully sunny, with little evidence of the somber atmosphere that one might associate with a festival that traditionally pays respects to one’s ancestors.
Perfect climes, though, to enjoy the flower blossoms. And the perfect spot for flower-watching is Taizi Bay Park, just on the other side of Nanshan road, opposite the famed Sudi scenery of the West Lake region.
The park’s selling point is the three kinds of blossom that bud at the same time. You don’t need to go to Japan to witness pink clouds of cherry or Holland for its graceful tulips. You can experience both, along with pink magnolia, with none of the high travel expenses.
The amount of tulips was less than last year, when, during the Shanghai Expo, the local government claimed the acreage of the fresh cup-like flowers was the second largest in the world, after Holland. Sadly, it’s not as bounteous this year but the local government still spent 20 million yuan ($3.06 million) in 2011 to plant 200,000 tulips of 37 different types.
After the blossom sightseeing, why not take a stroll around the West Lake just across the road? It can take an hour or two to walk around on a good day, devoid of tour groups, but it’s much faster if you rent a bike which can be easily accessed around the water. My suggestion, though, is walk if you have the time.
You’ll be impressed first by the pure water of the lake, fresh and clean-smelling, unlike the usual smell of garbage or dead fish one associates with lakes in China. Then you’ll be really surprised to see how many different kinds of plants there are within arm’s reach.
Willows wave their slender branches like the green hairs of young ladies in the wind. Peach blossoms stretch their very tips to reach the falling sun as if ambitious to race their pink against the oral of the evening sun. Indeed, the landscape is famous for inspiring Chinese poets of old, like Su Shi, who wrote, “The light of water sparkles on a sunny day/ And misty mountains lend excitement to the rain/ I like to compare the West Lake to Miss West./Pretty in a gay dress and pretty when simple again.”
Romance of legend
When you walking by the ornate bridge across the streams running into the lake, purple rape blossoms will happen upon you as if you were wandering through France. If you want to take a boat trip in the lake, get on board before four or the ticket offices will be closed.
See the lake under the starry sky and sparkling pagoda, which bears the tale of the White Snake and her husband – the deity transformed into female shape, who fell in love with her husband Xu Xian but their love was forbidden; the White Snake was held prisoner in the pagoda until her son saved her. One of the most romantic tales in Chinese mythology, it will definitely persuade you to stay in Hangzhou for its beauty and quiet.
You can drink a cup of fresh green tea soaked with water from the Hupao spring in the mountain and taste local delicacies such as Jiaohua chicken and West Lake vinegar fish on the balcony of ancient restaurants like Lou Wai Lou, which dates back to 1848 and was rewarded with ten visits from Premier Zhou Enlai. The emperors of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) gave up their former capital in Kaifeng, Henan Province, to linger in Hangzhou.
Tea appreciation
As a tea lover – but not an expert – I felt pleased to witness the annual birth process of the finest Longjing green tea. You can choose to see the carnival-like tea baking competition in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) ancient streets or, my personal recommendation, go sightseeing at one of the many tea farms.
This is becoming regular for tour groups. I was lucky enough to visit a former village head of a tea-farming village north of the West Lake in Jiuxi, who has been in the business for 42 years, starting when he was 16.
Zhou told me that their tea is not for sale on the market, but only those close to him – or VIPs, naturally – can have the honor of enjoying green tea made from centuries-old leaves. He even shook hands with Margaret Thatcher, among other famous dignitaries.
“It is the busiest moment of the year,” Zhou said of Qingming. “The tea leaves contain the most nutrients before the rainy season. I can bake 3.5 to 4 kilograms a day nonstop for my friends… [they] are really anxious, waiting for their tea,” In the workshop at his two-story house, Zhou said there are more than 100 other people preparing tea in this way in his village.
Maybe you need expertise to taste green tea properly but it won’t cost you anything to climb up the mountain and see the trees for yourself.
Amid mist and drew, the trees’ leaves could not be any greener and more delicate before the sunrise, the perfect time to pick them.
As the capital of Zhejiang Province, you’ll have plenty of places for shopping for silk products and Qingming desserts. But why not just simply return to the arms of Mother Nature? It is the peak time, after all.