We went to Hangzhou on Monday and Tuesday 12/21-22 about 3 hours southwest of Shanghai. It is considered one of the most beautiful areas of China. Marco Polo even commented on the beauty of Hangzhou back in the 1300’s. The main attraction of Hangzhou is West Lake and the manmade lakes and causeways. The area is considered “heaven on earth”. The weather was frightfully cold – 30 degrees F. but we managed to walk a bit around the lake and even take a 30 minute cruise on the lake.
The other attraction in Hangzhou is the Tea that is grown in that region. We went to a tea plantation and had a little tour and then tasted the tea with water from the Dragon Well. A ‘mystical’ well. Actually it’s just really good well water, unlike the water you get in Shanghai.
Our lunch was at a restaurant that served typical Hangzhou style food. You must understand it all tastes like Chinese food to me. Some dishes better, some worse. Here is a picture of the Beggars Chicken, which is a famous dish of the area. 
The chicken is seasoned then wrapped in 20 sheet of paper and then clay is packed around it to form a ball. Then it is placed in the oven and cooked. It is brought to the table after the clay is removed and the paper is cut open. It use to be when the small chicken was served the pieces were distributed thusly: the wings for the daughter, the legs and thighs for the son, the breast meat for the wife and the head and neck for the husband. Please note this bird arrived cooked with all its ‘pieces’, unfortunately we could not convince Tony that it was good luck to eat the head. The flavor however was very nice, nothing unusual just a nice roasted chicken. Unfortunately the restaurant had just opened and I guess they turn off the heat at night because we kept our coats on while eating as it was so cold inside!!!
By the way the pretty asian lady is our tour guide Melody.
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