Day Nine: On the lake, heading to Hangzhou, around the lake

This morning we headed back to the City Wall. Not to walk it, but for some leisure time on Xuanwu Lake, which is beside it. We had initially expected to go paddle boating, but it turned out there were only boats with motors. Given that we had climbed approximately ten thousand stairs yesterday (I'm rounding up), we were pretty okay with letting our legs take a rest. We agreed I would take the wheel as Trish prefers not to drive, plus I have my Ontario boating license (luckily no one asked to see it since I didn't bring it with me…foolish, I know). Actually, they weren't too concerned with whether or not you had any steering skills or swimming skills. You put down a deposit, grabbed a life jacket, and hopped in. No waivers required. There were a few styles of boats to choose from. I vetoed Trish's fist choice of the swan boat, as they were clearly older, and I didn't want to captain a boat that might give out on us. So she then selected the mighty dolphin boat. And away we went!

We had a grand time puttering around, taking in the shore, enjoying the breeze, and making sure other boats with less experienced captains didn't crash into us (read: children and/or people blatantly not even trying to steer). Eventually our hour was up, and we returned to port. My docking was adequate, if I do say so myself (and compare myself to the other boats docking, which I absolutely did). Back at the apartment we packed up and started the trek to our next destination: Hangzhou, south east of Nanjing with the beautiful West Lake at it's heart.

Since we had arrived here on the train, we were ready to retrace our steps back through the subway to the train station to get our railway tickets heading to our next stop, Hangzhou. We navigated or way to the station effortlessly, and found the attendants. The line we were waiting on closed for break before we got to the front, so we hopped over to a second line. When we got to the front and made our request (pre-written in Mandarin), we were sent to a third line. The attendant spoke a bit of English, and helped us understand that only the slow trains left this station. Since we wanted a fast train, we needed to go to the other station. *sigh* We were able to but our tickets for the next train we could get to the other station in time for, and we were off again. A bit frustrated that we hadn't figured it out in advance…

Our train ride was much like the last one – some people snoring away, others watching videos on their phones without head phones. Trish and I struggle with some things that conflict with our Canadian sensibilities:

• Spitting (a good loud spit is common to hear when outside)
• Scooters cutting through pedestrian traffic, occasionally driving right at you while making eye contact (on the road and on the sidewalk)
• Waiting in line is a vague concept – people squeeze in ahead of you if there is space
• The younger adults tend to stare at their phones while walking, sometimes slowing down or stopping unexpectedly, unconcerned with who is around them and maybe is about to walk into them
• Slightly more difficult to tune out than someone watching a show on their phone without headphones is multiple people around you watching different shows, or the same show a few seconds apart

Arriving in Hangzhou, we had an easy time of finding the apartment. Since it can be a maze here, the Airbnb host give us detailed instructions and pictures to help guide us. Similar to our first apartment, we were in a typical city dwelling – a community made up of several buildings, with several units, with several apartment. We had been pre warned by our host before we booked that we would be on the fifth floor with no elevator. Needless to say we were thrilled to drop our bags when we got in.

Once we had a chance to settle in, we headed to West Lake for an evening walk along the water. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the lake had been popular for a long time as many of the dynasties invested in dredging and expanding the freshwater lake over the centuries. We didn't attempt to walk so the full 15km circumference of the lake, but made or way along the side adjacent to downtown Hangzhou.

There were restaurants and stores scattered around the side of the lake closest to downtown, along with a few night time cruise boats on the water. We stopped to listen to a few singers performing, and a few dancers as well. We also came across a group of park dancers, which are always fun to watch. Everyone is dancing to the same music – a few doing similar steps, but for the most part everyone is dancing their own set of moves. There was a light and water show happening out on the water as well, and some interesting store along the nearby paths inland (including a tree lit up brought pink – perhaps to imitate blossoms, or maybe just as a unique selfie spot).

Eventually fatigue and the bugs were got the best of us, and we headed back to our apartment.