West Lake and the Tea Plantation

Today our guide, Jessica, picked us up at 9:00 a.m. from the hotel, and we spent the morning touring West Lake with her.  We went to the opposite side of the lake from where we were walking around Sunday on our own.  We took a beautiful boat ride around the lake, and Jessica explained the stories behind the two different pagodas, the gardens, the bridges and the islands located around the lake.  The people of Hangzhou take such pride in their historical West Lake, and it plays a very important role in their community.  After the boat ride, we took a walk around the gardens and let Juliet look at the fish pond and the birds on the property, which she was very interested in.  This part of the lake was very crowded with many tourist groups, and Jessica explained that this is very typical.  People from neighboring provinces come here often on buses for tours of the area.  After leaving the lake, we decided to visit the tea plantation that was close by, even though Juliet was getting pretty tired.  At the plantation, we learned the process of making Dragon Well green tea, one of the two major products that Hangzhou is known for, the other being silk.  It was interesting to see the hills of terrace farming around the plantation, and to learn the intense process that goes into producing the tea.  Jessica entertained Juliet at the plantation as we had our crash course in tea production.  Juliet was especially interested in a little dog, named Dodo, that roamed the property.  We're hoping she has the same curious interest in our own dog at home. 



After the tea plantation, we made our way back to the hotel, trying to keep Juliet from falling asleep in the van so she could take a good nap in the hotel room (she starts falling asleep anytime she is riding in the van...hard to believe with all of the honking of horns and sudden stops that occur). She does perk up when she hears a wrapper of any kind, thinking she is going to be able to eat more. We kept digging in our bag and handing her goldfish crackers to keep her awake.  To say she has a good appetite is an understatement.  She flaps her arms, squawks, and kicks her feet at the sight of food.  Our strategy worked because she is going on 2.5 hours of a nap as of now.  We plan to walk back to the silk market again before dinner.  She loves to look around at the people, the colorful silk scarves, and the red lanterns that hang in the street.