Perhaps I shouldn't bitch about the rain

The weather here has been aweful! Its rainy and damp (which usually isn’t a problem) but its also cold. We’ve even had a couple of snowy days. Usually I welcome the snow with wide open arms but this snow is not very good—slushy, wet, slippery. The only perk of the snow is seeing Mao like this:


I was procrastinating my blog for a few days because I was afraid that I would have to fish for a story to tell. I could either write a lot about physics (leaving me to worry if I am driving you away or if I could possibly get scooped) or I could write about Lisa and the Free Mori mug (which is a funny story but a whole blog about my labmate seems gossipy)


Finally, yesterday, there was some relief. It was still raining but it was freakishly warm (at around 60F). So, frustrated with some impossible paper I was trying to read and my recent lack of exercise (and tight jeans), I set out with my barbie-pink umbrella (if I had realized just how much it rains in Hangzhou, I would not have been so silly in picking out the color) for a long walk.

It was the perfect day to walk around West Lake (Xi(1) Hu(2)) and its adjacent parks.


The lake was misty today—giving the trees and bridges a soft blur and hiding the tall buildings and haze of downtown that is on the far shore.


Passing through the lake are three causeways connected by pretty bridges. The middle causeway is pedestrian only and passes right through the center, giving views like this:


You can hire boats to go around the lake and visit the islands. The lake was full of them today. The rainy days are the best days to visit. I took this photo from the top of a bridge. The guys in the boat were waving and yelling hello. After I took this, they took a picture of me as I waved and yelled hello.


Walking back from the lake, I stopped in Yue(4) Fei(1) Mu(4). I had no idea what it was (and everything was in Chinese) but I now have my Lonely Planet China Guidebook open so I can give you a tidbit of history as I show you my photos.


The story is that General Yue Fei was commander of the Song armies during the 12th century when the Juchen invaded from the north. He was successful against the invaders but was nevertheless recalled by the Song court and was executed after being deceived by Qin Hui, a court official. 20 years later, emperor Gao Zong exonerated Yue Fei and reburied his corpse at this site. The mausoleum was ransacked during the Cultural Revolution but has recently been restored (and is a little bit cheesy)

Here is a taste of some of the new cheese. These photos were taken inside the mausoleum itself. There is a giant statue of Yue Fei, all painted up, and brand new cartoon-esque murals on the wall (which would be nice somewhere other than in this beautiful building).




Enough cheese.

The compound is a maze of buildings, courtyards, and gardens that you can wander around in. There are a bunch of little museums but, with today humidity, I couldn’t see any of the exhibits because the windows were all fogged up. (There didn’t seem to be any English signs or labels so I wouldn’t have known what I was looking at anyhow.)

The part I liked about Yue Fei Mu were the neat buildings with non-rectangular latticed windows and curved roofs,

and the gardens with little carp ponds and old twisty trees.

(That tree is huge. That structure in the background is the back of the entrance that was in the first picture)




As I mentioned earlier, a lot of the mausoleum was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Most of what I saw today was brand new and restored. Sitting the in the garden around the buildings (that housed all the new statues, etc) were ones like this

which I can only guess are the originals.

On my way home, I walked through the Botanical Gardens, choosing the path through the Bamboo Garden. It was misty so the bamboo was deliciously green.