OUR EXAMS ARE OVERR! THE WHOLE EXCHANGE IS OVERRRR!! TODAY I’VE FINISHED MY LAST EXAM! =D FROM NOW ON, IM FREEEEEEE (for 2 months)! Now I finally have time to blog about my trip to Hangzhou, which took place about 2 weeks ago!xD

As the saying goes that Hangzhou is the Heaven on Earth.. I saw it with my own eyes =D It was really amazing!!


Shannon and the Hangzhou tickets!^^ She has organized everything for the trip, including the tickets and accomodation! Thanks Shannon!

Transportation
Its very easy to get around in Hangzhou because of its well organized public transportation system and the availability of taxis.

Taxi
Once we got out of the Railway station, we saw that the taxies in Hangzhou are different compared to the ones from Shanghai! There are a lot of MERCEDEZ BEND brand taxis in the city! The Hangzhou taxi fare is 10 RMB for the first 3 km, 2 RMB for each additional km, which was even cheaper than in Shanghai.



Bus
It is very convenient to travel by bus. Hangzhou has many bus routes, so the bus will get you to many destinations. Besides that, it is very cheap, just 2 RMB and it doesn’t matter how many stops you make! Shanghai it is also 2 RMB, but the bus network is very limited!

Bicycle
Bicycle is one of the best way to explore Hangzhou, particularly the West Lake. There are a lot of bicycle-rental agencies which are located around the West Lake. A deposit of 300 RMB is needed to rent the bike. After you paid this, you will get a Bike Rental Card. With this card you can hire and return bikes at every bike-rental agency. It costs 2 RMB per hour, 3 RMB for 3 hours. At the end when you return the card to the agency, you will get 300 RMB back. So it’s very CHEAP CHEAP!!



The people
Another reason why Hangzhou is HEAVEN is because of the nice and warm-hearted local people. Its really the opposite of Shanghai! Maybe because of the fact that Shanghai is a business city and Hangzhou isn’t.

The food
The most important thing that makes Hangzhou a heaven is the FOOD!! When it comes to food, Hangzhou would definitely not disappoint you! We went to a very famous restaurant in Hangzhou, called “Grandma’s Kitchen (外婆家)”! You can’t get in without waiting in long lines. However, it was worth waiting. We had ordered a lot because everything was so attractive and somehow we managed to eat most of it! <(^Oo^)>


Grandma’s kitchen


Hangzhou dimsum, made of green tea


Famous Hangzhou dimsum


Something with pork? I don’t know how it tastes, but it looks a little spicy


Shrimp potatoes (veryyy delicious)


Black pepper beef


Smiley potatoes


Salted shrimp, served on stones to keep it warm


Deliciouss chicken


Desert made of beans, tastes sweet


It was just 160 RMB in total! So unbelievably cheap!!


Beggar chicken! xD really famous for chinese people! This was the first time I ate it, but it did not really impress me


Lotus leaf rice

The beautiful West Lake of Hangzhou -杭州西湖
Music fountain
Visitors should go to the lakeside to enjoy the Music fountain. It has a big water jet combined with neon lights and traditional music, very beautiful to watch it at night! It starts from 8pm!



Boat ride on the Westlake
With this boat ride you can feel the peace and beauty of the lake. It costs only 160 RMB, max 6 persons, about 45 minutes. A guy will drive you on the lake and introduce some famous places around the lake.


Boatride on the West lake


The boat driver and “guide”


Shannon and me on the boat


Kimmy on the boat


The Golden Dragon Boat! We saw this on the West Lake during our boatride!^^ it was hugee!

Hupao Spring Forest Park -虎跑泉导游词
The Hupao spring is famous for the wonderful quality of its water. The entrance fee was 15 RMB.

Legend says that the temple, which stood at the sight of Hupao Spring, was inhabited by a monk during the Tang Dynasty. There was no water at that place available for drinking, so the monk had planned to move the temple. The night before the move, the monk had a dream that a fountain would appear, which would solve the problem with the lack of water. When he woke up the next morning, two tigers began to dig at the spot. This caused water to spring forth, solving the monks delema. The fountain was named Hupao spring, which means Tiger Running Spring.






The 2 tigers


The tiger spring ?

The spring and the surrounding valley has now become a part of the Tiger Running Spring Forest Park. The park also has a Li Shutong (李叔同) Memorial. Li Shutong (1880-1942), also known as Hongyi Great Master, was a master painter, musician, dramatist, calligrapher, seal cutter, poet, and Buddhist monk.


Poetries of Li Shutong

The flower harbor park - 花港观鱼
There is a large variety of flowers and golden fishes in this park. It is an island surrounded by the West Lake.






Red carp pond


We didn’t have time to visit the Leifeng Pagoda - 雷峰塔
=(( such a shame!


THE END OF OUR TRIP! It was fun!=D

Well, after such a heavy period *eghum* .. I need some rest rite? That means.. TRAVELLINGGG! My beebiejj is on the way to shanghai now! 8,5 hours left before his flight arrives in shanghaii~ YAYY!! I can’t fall asleep because im too happy and excited.. thats why I am updating my blog!=p We have planned to travel in China! What is the plan..?

- From the 21st till the 24th of June: Guilin


- From the 25th till the 27th of June: Guangzhou


- From the 28th of June till the 4th of July: Hainan, Sanyaa! <3


- From the 8th till the 11th of July: Hangzhou + Suzhou!


- The 13th of July: BACK IN HOLLAND!!^^

Photoshoot Studio <3

I have always dreamt of taking professional photo shoots of myself in beautiful clothes! Recently I have made my dream come true! However.. it cost 2000RMB to fulfill it!O.o what has got me this far?!

One day, we were walking through People’s square when we saw some beautiful photos which caught my eyes! I went to the store automatically and sit down to take a look in the album! The staff tried to convince me to take a photo shoot. Since I have never done this before, I would like to experience it!

The day before the photo shoot, I had to sleep on time (which was very hard for me, since I am a late sleeper and non-early-riser)! Besides that, they advised me to drink less water at the night before to prevent swollen eyes.

At the studio…
Once I was there, I was really impressed! I saw a lot of beautiful girls in lovely clothes! The girls had tons of make up on their faces! I was wondering if they will also put THAT MUCH make up on my face! Suddenly I was a little scared because I don’t wanna look like a doll! O.o


And there she goes..

During the shoot.. it was really hard to hold a long pose! The shoot last about 9 hours? Ohh.. I was so tired and hungry at the end!

I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THE PHOTOS! I WILL GET THEM ON THE 20TH OF JUNE!^^


One preview.. =p

_

HAPPY BDAY BEEBIEJJ!

HAPPIE BDAY, CHOULII <3

Today it's my beebiejj’s birthday! So in honor of his BIG day, I want to share a little about mi and him..

He was with mi in Shanghai from the 2nd of February till the 22nd! We had spent a wonderful time together and went to lots of places in Shanghai! Thanks for being with me in the first few weeks! Because of your presence, I didn’t get homesick! Unfortunately, you were not able to stay till the end of my exchange, so we had to separate anyway! It was so hard to let u go..

Some precious moments/places in Shanghai with my hunnyy..

People’s square (Raffles city) -人民广场
Shopping and food!


Huaihai Lu 淮海路
Shopping and drinks!


Shanghai Ocean Aquarium -上海海洋水族馆
Asia’s largest aquarium


The Bund -外滩
Beautiful place with a nice view of Pudong! Especially at night! There were a lot of couples here.. *hint hint*



Yu Yuan - 豫园
This place was very familiar for a lot of people
its apparently the only site of cultural significance left in shanghai
there were a lot of shops in new looking old-style buildings


Madame Tussauds Shanghai


Jing’an temple -静安寺


Jin Mao tower – 金茂大厦
This is the #10 highest building in the world! We had our dinner at the 55th floor! It was so high that my ears could barely handle the pressure! However it was so beautiful to see Shanghai from above! Besides that, the food was really delicious! Indeed, it burned a hole in our wallet for eating there..=p but it was worth it! During the dinner, we gave each other the ‘love in our heart’!

Well.. he's coming back (28 days left!!) to pick mi up!^^ Before we go back to Holland, we are going to travel through China! I’m really looking forward to our trip.. =D

"Today is your birthday! I feel so sorry for not being with you during this BIG day because I’m thousand miles away from u! I promise.. next year I will make it up to u!

Even though I can’t be with you during your birthday, I have a surprise for you which is below your pillow RIGHT NOW!! Take a look when u read this... ^^

............TADAAA!! Seems like I have magic power, rite? ;)

Love youu!=)"

<3