The Romantic Star Ferry Part Deux

(Nik)

Today was jam-packed; we visited a temple, wandered in the tea, and had our first views of West Lake. We started early, around 8 in the morning, to meet Rose, an English teacher here at Hanggao, friend of the Exchange, and universally renowned fashionista, our effervescent tour guide, Bobby, and Ezra, a young female student Lindsay invited to join us. 

Our first stop was the Lingyin Temple. Actually, that's a lie. Our first stop was Starbucks, where we imbibed kafei and sampled red bean scones. Then we went on to see the carved Buddhas in the grottoes on the temple grounds and walked through some of the buildings.

This was the first temple where incense sticks were handed out free to all visitors, so we each were able to light a bundle. The other temple goers seemed to know the appropriate manner of praying before setting the incense down, so we tried to imitate them, raising the burning sticks to our forehead and bowing three times, then plunging our hands deep into the brazier to ensure the incense stood firmly as it burned. There is another ritual which involves throwing coins into the latticed top of a large bronze vase. The people around were pelting it with coins, hoping they would be lucky and their wish would land. A coin fell by my feet, and when no one claimed it I threw it myself. My aim was true and the coin clanged down the inside of the pot on my first throw. We also saw a small portion of a Buddhist service. The monks hummed a melody that reminded Lindsay of a Gregorian Chant, and the head monk used a plant stem to flick water onto the heads of the kneeling crowd. The temple abuts a luxury resort called Aman, which includes a Buddhist seminary on its grounds, and we could see many students in their storm cloud colored robes carrying books on the paths around the school.

After the temple, Bobby took us to the Longjing tea fields to sample some of last year's crop (this year's costs about ¥3600 for half a kilogram), and see the tea being grown in the fields. We were also shown leaves that had released their tea polyphenyl, which is the substance that contains all of the tea's nutrients. The polyphenyl looks like Elmer's Glue dried in patches on the leaves, and presumably melts into the hot water. Then again, it doesn't need to melt, because it is quite common to eat the Longjing leaves in your cup, which means you get all dat sweet, sweet, polyphenyl.

After lunch, we attempted that Hangzhou Spring tradition of taking a semi-public catnap. Unfortunately, the Korean folk music that was the only thing keeping the driver awake and alert was also the only thing preventing us from sleeping. We were restless upon arriving at Leifeng Pagoda; our desire to ascend warring with our desire to curl up in the sun and sleep. We ascended, and we're so glad we did, because the view was really quite breathtaking. The water was blue dotted by pleasure craft of all sizes, including tour boats done in a style that reminded Lindsay of a floating temple. The hills were emerald and the day was clear enough to see the other temples and pagodas dotting the slopes and islands. We returned to Earth to wait for a boat to give us some more views of the lake.

Some of you may remember my first blog, where I mentioned the weird bony Europeans arguing on the "Romantic Star Ferry." Well we would have gotten a second chance at romance on this boat ride. Unfortunately, Arlen has flown home (If you're reading this Arly we all miss you very much!) so we couldn't test the romance level on a real couple. The older Korean ladies seemed to be enjoying it though, and in the end, isn't that all that matters?