Green Tea, Hangzhou ... yes, again ...

We liked Green Tea so much, we decided to have dinner there again before we left Hangzhou.  This time we tried a different branch nearer to the Xi Hu Tian Di.  Fortunately, we went there early cos the queue was horrendous!  Despite being early, we still had a good hour's wait.  Our reward for waiting ...

Steamed minced pork with pickled lettuce ...

Their signature dish ... roast chicken and roast pork ... delish!

Cabbage (Wa Wa Chye) with black beans, garlic, vinegar and dried chilies ... it was so good the first time we had it, we simply had to order it again ...

Pork ribs soup ...

Hefang Street, Hangzhou, China

Hefang Street is one of the more famous streets in Hangzhou.  It's famous for a few shops that specialise in the art of making fans, as well as an ancient old Chinese medical hall ...

This is one of the shops that are famous for their fans ...

A couple of fans I bought ...

The ancient Chinese medical hall ... here's the counter where you can get your chinese herbs, combined as prescribed by the Chinese physician/sinseh ...

Here's where you register for a queue number to see the Chinese physician, and also where you pay after you see the Chinese physician ...

I found these pretty cushion covers that had a rather tribal ethnic look to them ...

A lovely table runner that I'm thinking of using to pretty up the foot of the bed ... love the colour, the florals and the tassels :)

LongJing Tea, Hangzhou, China

I had often heard of Long Jing Tea.  It's one of the choices of tea usually offered at the restaurants in China.  But I didn't know that Long Jing Tea actually had its origins in this little area in Hangzhou ... owing to the fact that an ancient chinese emperor had drunk some tea made with the water from this well, then pronounced it the finest tea in China ...

The well is still in use today ...

Green Tea, Hangzhou

Our driver (a local in Hangzhou) recommended this restaurant, Green Tea.  We learnt that Green Tea is one of the most popular restaurants in Hangzhou and to queue for an hour to have a meal here was a common thing.  They have several branches within the province, but this one was in one of the more charming locations ...

As it was a hot day, we ordered some refreshing citrus drinks ... lemon yuzu juice ...

Kumquat green tea ...

One of their signature dishes ... cabbage (wa-wa chye) with black beans in a chili vinegar sauce ... delish!!!

Beancurd in a claypot ... also delish!

Chicken with soya sauce ...

Their signature Green Tea Biscuit ... this was really yummy!  It was crispy on the outside with toasted sesame seeds and a creamy yam/taro filling inside ... Yum! Yum! Yum!

We tried Grandma's Kitchen which was supposed to be pretty famous too, but ultimately we still went back to Green Tea as their food was much better and their quality consistent regardless of branch location.

West Lake, Hangzhou

The last time I went to Hangzhou was probably around 10 years ago, and to refresh my memory, we decided to go there again.

During my last trip, the high-speed rail had not been built yet, so we opted to try this mode of transportation.  But first, we had to battle the crowds of people to get our bags x-rayed (at least 3 queues merging into one in no order at all, unless pushing your way aggressively through is considered order) ...

Above is a snapshot of the very modern and huge train station at Hong Qiao.  Below is a shot of the very modern high-speed train ...

... that travels at super high speed of 305 km/h ...

When we arrived at the Hangzhou train station, we were met by our driver who we had engaged in advance as we heard that the queues for taxis were incredibly long.  He took us to the Shangri-La, which was conveniently located right next to the West Lake ...

West Lake is a pretty huge lake.  Depending on the part of the lake and the time of the week, it can be pretty tranquil and calming ... a green oasis, compared to the hustle and bustle of the concrete jungle that is Shanghai.

We rented some bikes to explore the lake but found that on a weekend, it was near impossible to cycle anywhere fast ... crowds of people on foot and on these buggies filled the lanes.  I soon learnt that one needed serious cycling skills to keep the bike moving while avoiding running over anyone or getting hit by one of these buggies that were blaring music to make people move aside so they could get through ... that aspect certainly wasn't calming ... or tranquil ...

Some other scenic spots around the lake ... (we didn't go to the usual touristy spots as we had already done that during our previous visit many years ago) ...

Xiao Nan Guo, Shanghai

To give our Taiwanese visitors a taste of Shanghainese food, we took them to one of the more established restaurants - Xiao Nan Guo at Xintiandi.

We ordered one of our favorite dishes - roasted peanuts in a vinegared-plum sauce ....

Deep fried fish (somewhat like a large version of ikan bilis/anchovies) ...

Lotus root ...

Fried chicken with mouth-numbing dried chilies and peppercorns ...

Tofu with crab roe...

Stewed pork ...

Soup with beancurd ...

A famous Shanghainese dessert - Jiu Niang Wan Zi or fermented rice with glutinous rice balls ...