Hangzhou is famous for its lake. Unlike Wuxi, this lake has plenty of attractions surrounding it, and my goal for the day was to circle the entire lake on foot.
First up was a small 400-meter climb to the first viewing point, near a Pagoda.
From here, I descended back to the lake for some snacks and wandered around the parks.
About halfway, I bought some tickets to this pagoda, hoping for a nice view at the top.
It was super busy, but you're completely alone if you go off-route for just a minute. Everyone primarily heads straight to the pagoda and back. I took some time to relax in silence in one of the many pavilions before getting back into the crowds and up the pagoda.
There was a queue for the elevator, so I took the stairs instead.
The views are pretty nice! There was a queue for the elevator back down, so stairs again.
Dusk was setting in slowly, and I was about three-quarters around the lake.
I wanted to visit one more temple before calling it a day and was just in time to get some tickets.
The temple had a huge diorama of everyday life back in the day, which was very cool. I spent a good 20 minutes just browsing the thing.
It was getting dark quickly, so I headed upstairs for some photos.
Outside, I wandered around for a bit more, exploring the various buildings.
When it was completely dark, and I headed down the mountain to a "Snack street" for dinner.
I found a place that sold thé thing to try in Hangzhou: Pork boiled in earthen pots for many hours, covered in Soy sauce and other delicious condiments.
The pork was delicious, as was the sweet-n-sour crispy pork I added to the order because the pictures told me nothing about the portion sizes.
