Ningbo, Hangzhou

thirst for symmetry
Originally uploaded by statusqphotos

After Shanghai i went to NIngbo. Not because i had any real desire to, but because my cousin said i should go.

So i did. And i met her cousin. Which was a bit odd. He's very busy, and frankly i didn't care much if we met or not, but i think he felt obligated to squeeze me in, so he invited me out to karaoke w/ some friends of his.

The gang wasn't horribly friendly, and my mandarin is still pretty crappy. i found it weird to see so many hot women paired off w/ so many less than devilishly handsome men.

Other than that, Ningbo is a nice, clean, modern and boring city.

Bk in Shanghai i hung out w/ a german dude, that chinese dude, and a Dutch woman. i told them i was going to Hangzhou later. They all said, I wanna go too! So we got a room together in Hangzhou.

Hangzhou has been likened to Heaven by many chinese, and as such it has earned a reputation with the tourists. It's alright. Big lake, bordered by mountains. Boats that you have to pay a lot to ride in. Lambroghini and Ferrari dealerships, etc.

Spent a couple days walking around the city, and getting drunk every night w/ the gang. Which was admittedly a bit excessive, but entertaining enough. You know. A bit of bar hopping. A few drinking games. Pestering the dj to stop playing so much old school techno, and to throw on some Daft Punk or something. Live karaoke performances. And some dancing on the tables for good measure.

We also went to a not so far town called Xitang. Because Q (that's my gf, btw. Apparently "qq" is decided uncool) Q's friend recommended it. A quiet place w/ lots of canals.

i was stoked because the place isn't even on my Lonely Planet map.

But.

My Lonely Planet book is now 3 yrs old.

And now Xitang has an extensive write up, including a comment that the place is quickly becoming touristified. Yes, well, thanks for the warning LP, you fuckers.

Also, w/ recent filming of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3 there, i guess the secret was bound to break out.

Anyhow, it was a nice change of pace from guangzhou. Very picturesque. i'll post pix when i get bk to bj, and i'll be disappointed if you don't view each one carefully in full size.