After Longyan I made it Fuzhou and had my quick experience of losing my phone. Which is my life line because its how I am booking hostels, searching for maps, and writing this journal.
I decides to stay two nights in the Super 8 because the train to Hangzhou was so early but I needed to buy tea still! Fuzhou is the capital (or shall I spell it capitol in anticipation of the next hunger games movie) of Fujian province. Fujian is well know for its tea from WuYi mountain and TieGuanYin oolong. Though I skipped the lengthy trip to the national park I managed to shop a bit in the downtown of the city.
I saw amazing shoushan carvings and cork wood masterpieces! But basically I spent my time buying a skirt, dress, and tea. The first place I went to was a high end shop in the old streets and 7 alleys. At least there I felt I was getting actual WuYi tea. Expensive though.... Then I decided to give my patronage to a small shop owner instead of a brand name. I had only asked to buy DaHongPao but after that he invited me to have tea with him and I managed to have a small conversation with him in mandarin. I must have a horse shoe up my ass because he gave me some free packets of higher quality DaHongPao. Then discussing about my trip to see Yixing and their famous tea pots he gave me a plastic brewing pot. Then he gave me some TieGuanYin. It was a good day!
This nice shop owner may not have profited that night but he seemed happy to talk with a foreigner about tea. I certainly was happy!
This was also when I decided to buy a suit case to put souvenirs in because I have no space in my backpack. So now I am mobile with luggage but its mostly full of tea....
Moving on to Hangzhou (which has a chilly temperature compared to Fuzhou) I must say my experience was akin to sweet and sour chicken balls (which nobody sells here). I will probably explain everything in a separate post with advice but basically I stayed in this big city on the generosity of a businessman- the one I met back in Chengde. I also met back up for a day with a girl I met in Harbin.
I was treated extremely well and stayed in this high class business hotel/apartment and ate extremely well every night. I also have a gift to bring home in the above mentioned suitcase. Hangzhou is a beautiful city and worth a visit because the city life is luxurious there and the west lake scenic area is very carefully maintained and beautiful! This is also where LongJing tea comes from. I visited the tea museum briefly but I missed out on going to the Dragon Well because my host was too tired. However I bought tea... (There is a pattern here when it comes to minor disappointments)
Anyways I'm in Tai An right now staying in a hostel at the foot of Tai Shan. I will recap my Yixing experience tomorrow maybe as I went there today. Tomorrow I will also climb Tai Shan with another girl staying in the hostel. Then back to Beijing the day after.... Going home is so soon!
