Day 6 - Wednesday

Today we took a trip out of Shanghai to the capital of the Zhejiang province, Hangzhou - this sub-provincial city is about 112 miles south-west of Shanghai this was a 3 hour drive (allowing for a cigarette and rest break) with more toll stops than I can remember!!

Before we started to do the sightseeing we went in search of a toilet - we were directed into a department store from here we then got lost as we couldn't find the exit and we couldn't find which was down or up - it was very entertaining!! I think all the shop workers were finding the sight of 3 Westerners roaming aimlessly around the store also amusing!!

When we arrived at Hangzhou we headed for the west lake and took a boat ride to the island in the middle more commonly known as '3 pools mirroring the moon' this was so peaceful and tranquil - despite the number of other people on the island. Yet again we were the attraction of the day with many people once again stopping to stare at us.

After the boat ride we headed back to the shopping area for lunch at Starbucks!!

We then headed of to Linying Temple - one of the oldest Buddhist temples. We didn't actually head into the temple itself but the grounds around the temple were amazing with all the buddhas carved into the mountain side and the stone stairways taking us up and down the mountains and through the caves.

(unfortunatley my camera battery died so I don't have any pics of this)