West Lake

After reaching the end of Hefang Street I wondered how to get to Xihu (西湖, West Lake). There was a bus terminus nearby and I had to peruse several timetables before guessing that the service passing Hubing (湖滨, lake shore) had a good chance of getting me there. In general it was difficult for me to work out public transport in China, even though I can read Chinese. It must be harder for non-readers.

A telephoto shot of the elaborate cruise boat that goes to an island in the middle of the lake. Many of the visitors to Hangzhou were Chinese, tourists in their own country. Quite an advance from say 50 years ago.

Some of the pavilions on the southern shore of the lake. Hubing runs past the eastern shore. I started roughly in the middle of that strip.

And this the where the boats set out from.

A squirrel that came down from one of the trees to get food from visitors.

After I took a few pictures, I noticed that a nearby sign advertised feeding times. So the squirrel show was partly artifice. I suppose the people came at the suggested times and the squirrels got used to the schedule.

Water calligraphy.

And after a while I found the "culprit", or at least one, maybe there was more than one calligraphist. It must be enjoyable to train one's body to create beautiful writing. A task which one could flow with.

There are water fountains just offshore which perform at regular intervals to music. They would look even prettier floodlit at night.

A causeway and half-moon bridge at the northern end of the lake.


It is possible to circumnavigate the lake on foot, but that would have taken several hours and been tiring so I decided to make a round trip on an electric cart.


(To be continued.)