7-17-09: Hangzhou: West Lake boat ride, Tea Plantation, Lingyin Buddhist Temple Founded 236 A.D(the 60 ft. Buddha), Bus to Shanghi...

The day started with a boat ride on West Lake which took us by huge Dragon Boats which had been rented by all the "Big Cheeses" over the years, as Emily liked to tell us.  We all traded turns taking pictures off the bow until Jim blocked the skipper's view and got busted by the onboard authorities...but, he did get some good pictures...so the risk and the stern two word talking to from the little lady was worth it!

The tea plantation was a nice place for a rest in an air conditioned tea house and an education from the fastest tea packer in the land!  She grew up on the plantation and it showed!

Our collected jaws dropped once again; this ritualistic "dropping-of-the-americans'-jaws" routine repeated itself regularly, we were to find, on this trip; as walked in and out of the ancient Buddhist temples.  The 60 ft. Buddha and the smiling Buddha carved into the hillside, which survived the Cultural Revolution, were a visual representation of this culture's and religion's artistic passions and skills.  But, surprisingly being allowed to walk among worshipers expressing their appreciation for their physical representations their philosophical ideologies left us with a larger memory than the 60 ft. camphor wood manmade carving ever could.

The bus ride to Shanghi was another opportunity to view the countryside, the farmland, and the change from a rural expanse to a world financial and cultural metropolitan center.  Many have said that in the last decade the world has witnessed the "awakening of the sleeping giant" as China has thrust itself onto the global stage...and the dragon's head rests in Shanghi!