China - Day 46 - A (tourism) star is born

July 31
When my boss's boss asked me to give a speech about American college, I said sure, figuring that it would be more like a conversation with some Chinese college students, like the conversation I had with ZheDa students a month ago. Well, I was kinda wrong. I realized it wasn't exactly what I expected when I saw the note posted on the company billboard advertising it to the entire company. After a few powerpoint missteps (it's funny to see that those presentation issues are universal), I got started with the speech, but things got tripped up pretty quickly when I realized that most of the audience didn't speak English and I had to pause for my boss to translate the speech. There were about 25 assorted people from the company there and I'm not sure how much of the speech translated, but they did laugh occasionally, so I think it went fine. When we got to the Q and A session, I was expecting questions about American colleges, but I ended up getting many more personal questions. Apparently everyone has to ask for themselves if I have a girlfriend. Following the speech, we went to a hotel restaurant in Xiasha that I'm sure was the classiest restaurant in Xiasha (which isn't saying much). The food was fine, although it was buffet, so it was rather tepid. Overall, a strange but somewhat fulfilling day.

August 1
The goal for today was to go window shopping so that I know what I want to buy when I get my next paycheck, and I was more or less successful. In the first mall I stepped into seemed identical to every other mall I'd been in in China, until I stepped off the escalator on the third floor right in front of the Harry Potter store. Not a store specializing in Harry Potter books or memorabilia, but in Harry Potter fashion (it looked like a tween Abercrombie). I turned around in disbelief, only to see a Caterpillar (the heavy machinery company) clothing store. It seems that any brand can have a retail store in China.

I decided to stop for food after some initial window shopping and I wanted to be bold, so I went into a Chinese restaurant, eschewing the Western restaurants I usually favor when I'm alone, and went to order some baozi and milk tea for breakfast. Well, I apparently was not as clear as I had thought I was because I ended up with youtie and salty soymilk (ugh, it was like drinking tofu). I decided to not accept defeat and treated myself to a cream puff at Beard Papa afterwards. It was tasty, but more custardy than the cream puffs at Beard Papa in America, perhaps that's a cultural taste thing.

After a bit more window shopping, I decided that it was time to appreciate the beautiful day at the West Lake. The weather was beautiful but brutal, it hit 100 Farenheit before noon and remained pretty humid throughout the day. I walked along the Bai Causeway to check out one of the islands in the West Lake and to see the Zhejiang Provincial museum. When I got to the island I was a little disappointed to see that it was completely developed as just another part of the city (There was a beautiful pagoda along the lake that housed a generic British chain coffee shop).

The lotus flowers beginning to bloom on the West Lake. Once I finally found one patch of lotus flowers, I then found 7 more nearby. Apparently I've been looking for them in the wrong places	The sword in the stone at the Zhejiang Provincial Museum. I don't think it's an homage to King Arthur, but the museum was closed on Sunday, so I'm not sure.

After striking out with the museum, I decided to continue walking along the island in search of something else of interest on the island. I found a tea house with a trail up to the highest point of the island called Solitary Hill. I decided to head up this trail to see at least something authentic on this island and to get out of the sun for awhile. Unfortunately, the view from the top of the hill was obscured by the foliage, but it was still a nice walk. I went down the hill and realized that I was on the opposite side of the lake that I started, so I went to look for a bus stop to take me back to the main part of the city. I found the stop, but a bus that I didn't recognize. I decided to throw caution into the wind and hopped on the bus, going wherever it would take me. Luckily, it took me right where I wanted to go, the base of the hill leading up to the Baochu Pagoda.

The courtyard of the tea house leading up to Solitary Hill.	The aptly names Solitary Hill, near the Zhejiang Provincial Museum. It is one of the only places I've been outside alone in all of China

Getting up to the Baochu Pagoda is a bit of an adventure, as you have to walk through a rather sketchy residential neighborhood to get to the trailhead. I got some strange looks walking through the neighborhood (I imagine they don't get many laowai there). After thinking I was lost a few times, I found the trailhead (a huge stone arch) and started walking up. Like Solitary Hill, it was a nice, relatively easy walk with ample shade. When I got to the top of the hill the sun had receded behind the clouds which dropped the temperature about 15 degrees, which was more than welcome. When I got up to the highest vantage point (on top of a number of boulders adorned with "No Climbing" signs and dozens of Chinese tourists) I could see the entire West lake and most of Hangzhou. It was a beautiful sight and I wasn't the only one appreciating it. I sat on the rocks admiring the view for a long time before a guy conducting a photoshoot struck up a conversation with me. We had a nice conversation in broken English and Chinese that rather entertained his models. As I was getting up to leave he asked me to take part in their photoshoot and I obliged as it was the first time someone had asked me to stop to take a photo with them (My friend Phil has been stopped numerous times for his talents as a laowai and I was starting to feel a little self-conscious that no one had asked me yet). On my way down the hill I was stopped four more times to have my picture taken. I guess when it rains it pours (also a fairly apt description of the weather in Hangzhou). At the bottom of the hill I met the aforementioned friend Phil and we walked to a Hong Kong-style restaurant near his hotel. I was excited because it meant that I would be able to order some chashaobao (Steamed BBQ Pork Buns), which are not terribly common outside of Hong Kong. I was quite sad to learn that they were out of chashaobao. I guess I'll just have to return (the other food we ordered was quite good, so that shouldn't be a problem).

Rock steps near the Baochu Pagoda leading up to a vantage point overlooking the entire West Lake	Me on the vantage point with the Baochu Pagoda and downtown Hangzhou in the background

August 2
Back to work, not much going on. I started working with AutoCAD a bit today, but it was touch and go because the software wasn't in English or Chinese.