Hangzhou, my new grandma friends, tea plants and more

"The shimmering ripples delight the eye on sunny days,

The dim hills present a rare view in rainy haze.
West Lake compares to Xi Zi the beauty at her best:

She is gorgeous, richly clothed or plainly dressed."

(the author compared the lake to legendary Chinese ancient legendary beauty named Xi Zi)

This is what an author wrote about the West Lake in Hangzhou, which is by far the most wellknown sight of the city. The lake is surrounded by nice parks, temples, pagodas and bridges and inspired many authors and painters ever since.

I didn't go there on my own, but joined a Chinese one-day travel group from Shanghai. This was a totally new experience because the explanations were in Chinese only and the other participants were all Chinese. On the trip I made friends with some old Chinese ladies and on all our cameras together there probably are more than 100 photos of our group now. They were very attentive and made sure I didn't get lost (well, not that there was much of a chance anyway...). The second highlight after our boat trip on the West Lake were the fields with plenty of green tea plants. The Hangzhou area is known for it's extensive tea production.