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上海游記 Nov. 28 – Dec. 16, 2009 Day 5, Hangzhou January 6, 2010

Posted by hslu in China, Chinese Food, Cooking, Food, Restaurants, Travel.
Tags: 白蛇傳, 百子弥勒佛, 紹興酒, 金山寺, 苏堤， 白堤, 蘇州, 雷峰塔, 韭菜春笋, 西湖醋魚, 西湖龍井, 黄酒, Hangzhou, West Lake Hillview International Hotel, Xihu, 動車組, 古越龍山, 宋嫂魚羹, 小绍欣, 带鱼, 杭州, 東坡肉, 江浙菜, 清明, 清河坊, 上有天堂, 下酒菜, 下有蘇杭
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上海游記 Nov. 28 – Dec. 16, 2009

Day 5, Hangzhou, Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Bao got up super early to exercise. I didn’t want to go but couldn’t sleep so I joined her about 10 minutes later. Looking out from the exercise room, the smog was gone and the sky was clear. We could see clearly The Bund across黃浦江 “huang2 pu3 jiang4.” It would be a very nice day to travel. Today, we’d take train to hangzhou, a city with natural beauty and cultural heritages about 110 miles southwest of Shanghai.

We packed our luggage, had our breakfast and got Xiaobao up too. We checked out of the hotel but decided to keep 3 pieces of our luggage there so that we didn’t have to drag them along for the overnight trip. I picked up three 動車組train tickets at the business center which I ordered a day before. Based on what I could gather from the Internet, 動車組 referred to a faster train going back and forth between major cities. The one-way ticket to hangzhou was ¥54 each but I had to pay ¥20 delivery fee for each ticket. Slowest trains might take as much as 3 times longer at about ½ the price. The taxi ride to上海南站 “shang4 hai3 nan2 zhan4” cost ¥120 and it took 40 minutes to get there because it was pretty far away from our hotel.

On the way there, I used my cellphone to take a few pictures of a few interesting landmarks. When we got there, I put it back to the holster which was clipped to my belt inside my jacket. We each got our carry-on luggage, walked into the train station and found the waiting area to wait for the train. A few minutes later, I wanted to check the time but couldn’t find my cellphone. The holster was gone too. It was apparent that my cellphone was stolen by a person who was near the place we got off the taxi. He must have taken my cellphone from my belt without my knowledge. Had I left my cellphone on the taxi, the holster should still be there.

Well, in addition to the inconvenience of not having a phone with us and the additional cost of another ¥118 for a SIM card, the missing cellphone created another problem for me. On Monday, we took a taxi back to the hotel after a day’s outing. The taxi drive seemed to be an honest guy who was very talkative and friendly. I asked him about taking a taxi to朱家角 “zhu1 jia1 jiao3;” a tourist spot outside of Shanghai famous for its old city look or so-called 老街 “lao3 jie1.” He said he’d do it for ¥400 round trip and he’d wait for us while we shopped and ate there. He’d pick us up at the hotel around 10 AM and take us back to our hotel in the evening around 7 or 8 PM. I thought it was a good deal because it saved us time and energy to look for a bus to 朱家角 which would for sure take longer than taking a taxi. We exchanged phone numbers and he said he’d call me Thursday night to confirm the deal for Friday. I told him that we’d for sure take his taxi to 朱家角.

Hmm, I wasn’t sure what to do now because I didn’t know his name or the name of the taxi company. I had to somehow find the phone numbers on the cellphone. Well, I’d worry about it when we came back from Hangzhou.

A few minutes later our train was called on the PA. We rushed to the platform and quickly found our seats. The train was very new, had many passengers and left the train station on time. Bao went to the dinning car and got a 便當 “bian4 dang1,“ or boxed lunch, and a drink back for me. The bian4 dang1 did look that appetizing. I left it on the car and drank the juice. Shanghai to Hangzhou took one hour and twenty minutes. We got out of train station at around 11 AM.

Many people came to ask if we wanted a tour package. Since I didn’t make any arrangement prior to our arrival, I was going to hire someone to take us around anyway. The key was to find someone who looked honest and reliable. I refused several guys and took the offer of a middle-aged man who agreed to drive us in a mini-van to eat at a local restaurant and then to our hotel for ¥30. I thought this was a reasonable offer. He said he’ll take us to a clean restaurant and tried the famous Xihu cuisine. I asked him about taking us around to see Hangzhou’s famous Xihu and 靈隱寺 “ling2 yin3 si4.” He said he’d do it for ¥500 but not to 靈隱寺 because it ‘d take more than a couple of hours. He’d take us to three points of interests along Xihu, a local farm house to try Xihu’s famous 龍井 “long2 jin3” tea and tour a local silk plant. I agreed and off we went to the restaurant first. The guy acted as our tour guide. His wife was the driver.

The restaurant seemed to be a favorite spot of tour guides because the wait staff all knew my driver and tour guide. The outside of the free-standing building looked better than its inside probably because it was kind of dark and cold in the dinning room. It looked not that clean but it did have about 20 guests sitting at two big round tables near the front door. They looked like foreign tourists to me because of the way they talked and dressed.

We ordered a plate of stir-fried 蓮藕 (¥25) “lian2 ou3,” or lotus roots, which was in abundant supply at Xihu.

We also ordered several famous Xihu dishes:

1.                  東坡肉 (¥6/order) “dong1 po1 rou4,” a famous Hangzhou dish following the receipt handed down by one of the greatest poet in the Song Dynasty (宋朝), 蘇東坡 “su1 dong1 po1.”

2.                  青椒牛柳 (¥35) “qing1 jiao1 niu3 rou4,” beef tenderloin stir-fried with fresh pepper,

3.                  西湖醋魚 (¥35) “xi1 hu2 chu4 yu2,” local fish from Xihu in vinegar sauce,

and

4.                  宋嫂魚羹 (¥20) “song4 sou3 yu2 geng1,” fish soup with ginger, white pepper, white wine and vinegar.

蓮藕 was very fresh and yummy. 青椒牛柳 was way better than what we’ve tried in DC. The beef tenderloin was tender with right amount of spice. The fresh pepper was hot. Even my restaurant couldn’t make a dish like this. 東坡肉wasn’t too bad but it certainly needed at least another half-hour of cooking time in a clay pot. It could also use a bit more sugar too. Even my version was better than this. 宋嫂魚羹 was not too bad but it had some fish bones in the broth. The chef might have used a touch more vinegar to me. 西湖醋魚 was a huge disappointment: the presentation was downright ugly, the fish was steamed not deep-fried, the fish had too many fish bones and the sauce looked awful and over-powered by too much vinegar. One thing I couldn’t argue was its price: the entire meal cost less than $20. well, I wouldn’t go back to this restaurant next time. I’d find out where i wanted to go and asked the driver to take us there instead.

The legendary Hangzhou’s scenery has been made famous for hundreds of years by a well-known Chinese saying:  上有天堂, 下有蘇杭 “shang4 you3 tian1 tang2, xia4 you1 su1 hang2” which implies that the scenery at 蘇杭can only be matched with that in the heaven. 蘇 refers to 蘇州 Suzhou and 杭 refers to 杭州. 蘇州is a smaller city about 80 miles northeast of 杭州 Hangzhou. It is also near a much bigger lake called  太湖 “tai4 hu2.” In addition, 杭州 is in the 浙江 ”zhe4 jiang1” Province while 蘇州 is in 江蘇 ”jiang1 su1” Province.

Our first stop was 雷峰塔  “lei2 feng1 ta3;” one of the most beautiful sights near Xihu. The original pagoda was built a little more than 1,000 years ago during the North Song 北宋 “bei3 song4” Period. The pagoda was damaged or burned to the ground several times because of wars in the past. It was last rebuilt in autumn of 2002 following the original design. The pagoda was built in two years at a cost of ¥150,000,000. It has five stories plus an underground level reserved for the ruins of the previous building. There are several smaller buildings surrounding the pagoda and a big lotus pond near the entrance. Hundreds of colorful koi dotted the pond making it a memorable sight. red maple leaves intertwined with many green leaves forming a beautiful landscape around the majestic pagoda.

The pagoda was made famous with the Legend of White Snake; 白蛇傳 “bai2 she2 zhuan4.” The story involved a young scholar (许仙) xu3 xian1” falling in love with a beautiful lady called 白素贞 “bai2 su4 zhen1” who was actually a white snake (白蛇) taken on human form. They got married and had a boy. However, the relationship was forbidden by the heaven. A powerful monk called 法海 ”fa3 hai3” kidnapped 许仙 and jailed him at 金山寺 “jin1 shan1 si4” or the Golden Mountain Temple. To rescue her husband, 白素贞 with the help of her servant 小青 “xiao3 qing1”; a green snake, moved water from a nearby river and flooded the 金山寺.

However, she couldn’t rescue her husband but the flooding killed many innocent people. The reckless act angered the gods and they helped the monk 法海 defeated 白素贞. 法海then buried 白素贞under the 雷峰塔 with no chance of ever getting out of this terrible curse. She remained buried until her son grew up and begged the gods to release his mother. The gods granted his request and 许仙 and 白素贞 lived happily ever after.

As we climbed the steps to the base of the pagoda, a group of young students were also there. One young guy was teased by his friends that he couldn’t carry his girlfriend on his back to the base of the pagoda. He gladly took the challenge and carried her all the way to the top albeit with a lot of effort and a rousing encouragement from their friends. Hmm, I could do the same when I was at his age.

I climbed to the top of the pagoda while Bao and Xiaobao took the elevator. On the fourth level, there were eight big panels of wood carvings illustrating the legend of 白蛇傳. At the top level, I could see Hangzhou in the far ground and another temple on top of a nearby mountain. The interior of the rotunda was covered with hundreds of Buddha images in bright gold-color. The basement was set aside to display nearly a hundred important artifacts of Buddhism dating back several hundred years; many of which came from foreign countries such as India, Bhutan and Naples. The ruins of the previous pagoda were closed off to visitors with glass and chain link fence. We could see some bricks made from dirt, wooden beans and other material. Near the exit, there were a series of several wooden panels depicting the legend of Lady White Snake in bright colors.

Our driver then took us to Xihu where we walked along Su Causeway 苏堤 “su1 ti2” and Bai Causeway 白堤 “bai2 ti2.” I particularly liked the thousands of willow trees along the lake shore and in the surrounding gardens. They were the focal point of so many famous poems over the last thousand years. There were many small boats for rent but we didn’t have time to enjoy that. Besides it was a bit cold to set sail in the lake. However, I could easily be persuaded to tour the lake into the evening in the summer with my loved one or friends, a couple bottles of Chinese yellow wine and a few dishes of 下酒的小菜 ”xia4 jiu3 de1 xiao3 cai4.” Many of China’s famous poets have done this in the past and they have left us with so many famous poems from hundreds of years ago.

Hmm, I think I’ll joint them in the 21 century one of these days. The beautiful Xihu is still the same. The branches of willow trees are still swinging in the wind like they have done in hundreds of years. With Bao by my side, I’ll load my iPhone with Tang and Song poems, carry a bottle of 古越龍山 ”gu3 yue4 long1 shan1;” famous rice wine from绍兴 ”shao4 xing1” two small wine glasses and my Nikon. We’ll rent a boat and spend a lazy afternoon on the lake. We’ll buy a 小菜whenever we want one from boats catering to customers like us. After a few drinks on the lake, maybe I can come up with something that will make Bao keep filling my glass with the wine. Ha Ha Ha! It doesn’t hurt to dream, doesn’t it?

The next stop was a tea farm where we could taste the famous 西湖龍井 ”xi1 hu2 long3 jin3,” a green tea made famous by many Chinese leaders who have visited the farms here. The minivan moved slowly to the top of a mountain. The road got narrower and the air got cooler as we approaching the farm. We saw many tea trees on both sides of the road. They were about 4 to 5’ tall and the leaves were all in dark green color. All these trees were managed by several communities each with four to six thousand workers. I was under the impression that the trees belonged to local governments and the workers were laborer because it was very labor intensive at harvest seasons. The quality of the tea could be roughly determined by the time of harvest: before, during or after one of 24 Chinese lunar periods called 清明 “qing1 ming2:” usually from early April to about April 20^th. Before 清明, the young tea leaves were tender and small. Tea made from tea leaves of this period is extremely fragrant. The quality of tea decreases as time goes by. After 清明, the tea leaves have become old and large. Most have already lost that strong fragrance and market value.

The farm house was very modest and there were chickens running around the yard when we entered the farm. The young lady greeted us with a big smile and took us to a room adjacent to the entrance. On the wall, there were several old and brownish pictures of Deng Xiao Ping and Zhou En Lai chatting with farmers. A writing on the wall declared that 西湖龍井was the number one tea under the sky. Another writing near by claimed that the aroma from spring tea was more fragrant than the bouquet of wine.

Our young hostess took out three baskets of teas and asked us to smell and look at each one of them. Sure enough, we could all tell which one was picked first and which one was picked last. She then made tea from each batch and had us try them one after the other. Without guessing, we could all tell which one was better. She hen sweet talked me to buy ¥700 worth of tea: ¥400 of the pre-清明, ¥200 during 清明 and ¥100 of the post-清明 tea.

The last stop was the so-called silk plant. This place was a complete waste of time: the workers were there to put on a show when tourists were there. The sales person was trying not too hard to sell us silk blankets or silk cloth which we had no use in the U. S. We left there quickly and asked our drive took us to our hotel. I gave our driver and tour guide ¥500 for their 3.5 hours of service. I was sure that I paid too much for the service but, in a city that’s unfamiliar to us, a safe trip was more important than ¥100 or so extra I paid to a stranger.

Our hotel, the West Lake Hillview International Hotel, was a mid-size hotel situated not too far from Xihu. The hotel was nice with redwood furniture in the spacious lobby and a young lady was playing a traditional Chinese instrument as we entered the hotel. When we checked in at the front desk, they couldn’t find my reservation even though I booked it through expedia. I showed the young lady my booking record and she asked a young guy over to discuss the situation. The guy was very helpful and said that they would take up the matter with Expedia and put us in a room right away. Not bad a beginning.

The hallway to our room had thick carpet on the floor and dim lights on burgundy-colored redwood walls. The wall was decorated with pictures of Xihu and poems by great poets of the past. I stopped by to read the poems and liked the nice touch. The room was comfortable with a touch of traditional Chinese interior design. It also had beautiful redwood furniture as well.

We quickly put our stuff down, dressed up for the cool evening and went to the lobby to get a taxi. The bellboy was very helpful and a taxi came quickly. I had checked the map of Hangzhou and wanted to visit the market called 清河坊 Qqing1 he2 fang3;” an interesting cultural stop with traditional herb medicine stores, brocade and silk shops, tea houses, restaurants, Ginseng shops, massage parlors, ladies’ fashion stores and street vendors. The antique buildings along both sides of the street still retained many of the features of 南宋 “nan2 song4 chai2,” the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). In addition to hundreds of red lanterns that decorated the street, there was a huge brass statue of Laughing Buddha with One Hundred Kids 百子弥勒佛 ”bai3 zi3 mi1 le1 fo1” near the entrance of 清河坊. It attracted many visitors because of 弥勒佛’s lively happy expression and different facial expressions of all those kids.

There was an old herb medicine shop and a Chinese medicine clinic. Doctors were treating patients and many patients were waiting for their prescriptions to be filled by several pharmacists. A street vendor was making colorful 西游记 “xi1 you2 ji4” figurines using melted sugar which I haven’t seen in decades. Clerks at many silk shops yelled out prices of silk blankets to attract visitors. People working at tea shops tried their best to get us inside to purchase the famous Xihu Wu Long tea from them. A Ginseng shop proudly displayed its prized ginseng to attract potential buyers.

Many restaurants were busy with customers and we were ready for our dinner too.

Along the mile-long street there were many restaurants serving various cuisines from Canton, Sichuan, Hunan, Jiang Su and Zhe Jiang provinces. There was a McDonald’s and several served American and Japanese cuisines too. We chose a restaurant called 小绍欣 ”xiao3 shao4 xin1” which served traditional 江浙菜 ”jiang1 zhe4 cai4.” 江浙菜 is famous for its time-consuming preparation, refreshing taste and sophisticated ingredients. Cooking methods were the key in many dishes too.

I ordered a bottle of 10 year old 古越龍山 ”gu3 yue4 long1 shan1” to go with the 江浙菜 ”jiang1 zhe4 cai4” we have ordered. I asked the wait staff to warm the rice wine for me and they did it gladly. I ordered these simple dishes:

Soup

• 髮菜鱼肚汤 “fa3 cai4 yu1 du4 tang1” – Hair-like Seaweed with Fish Stomach Soup. Fish stomach is actually the part of fish that covers fish inners. This part of a fish is very tender because it contains gelatin-like material. It has been said that it is arguably the best part of a fish. 髮菜 is a black-color, hair-like seaweed preferred by Cantonese because 髮菜 “fa3 cai4” pronounces like 發财 “fa1 cai2” which means making big money or to become very wealthy.

Appetizers

• 皮旦豆腐 ”pi2 dan4 dou4 fu3” – Tofu with Chinese Black Egg. Take a look of the tofu and you’ll see that it was thinly sliced into ~1/8” thick slices. The keys to this dish are 1) the tofu has to be silky soft, 2) the egg white of the 皮旦 should be firm but QQ 的. When you sink your teeth into it, it should offer some resistance to your bite, 3) the egg yolk of the 皮旦 should be soft but not watery and finally 4) the sauce has to be made with first class soy sauce, rice wine, white pepper and small amount of vinegar and sugar. Add enough sesame oil to enhance the taste.
• 
• 甜藕 “tian2 ou3” – Lotus Root with Sweet Sticky Rice. This was one of the best Lotus Root dishes I’d ever had. The lotus root still retained its brown-pink color and every holes of the lotus root were filled with soft and sticky sweet rice. It was simmered or steamed in chicken stock and brown rock sugar first so that the lotus root and sticky rice could soak up all the sauces. It was then refrigerated over night before being sliced and served.
• 

• 酒螺 “jiu3 luo2” – Sea Snails in Rice Wine Sauce. This dish was served cold and was something new to me too. I have had smaller, darker spiral-snails before when I was in Tainan because they went well with hard liquor such as高粱酒 “gao1 liang2 jiu3.” This kind of sea snails was different from what I had before. We all tried the snails but I wasn’t sure that we liked them at all. The meat was tough and too chewy. I also didn’t like the sauce either.
• 

• 带鱼 “dai4 yu2” or Deep-fried Belt-like Fish. When we were living in Taiwan, we ate a lot of dai4 yu2 because it was cheap and very easy to make. The fish was about 3’ to 3.5’ long, ½” to ¾” thick and about 3” to 3.5” wide at its thickest. My mom would just cut it up into 4” to 5” long pieces, covered them in batter and flour, sprinkled some salt and deep-fried them for about 5 minutes or until golden brown on both sides. The fish meat was tender and flaky. It had no bone except the one, long piece along its center. I ordered it because it reminded me of our days in Taichong when we were poor and lived in卷村 “juan4 cun1.”

Entrées

• 韭菜春笋 “jiu3 cai4 chun1 sun3” – Chinese Chive with Spring Bamboo Shoots. I’ve always liked bamboo shoots especially the fresh winter bamboo shoots or 冬笋 “dong4 sun3.” I knew it has very little nutritious value but I liked its crunchiness and texture. When it was cooked with pork, it could soak up the sauce and became even better than the pork. I also liked its unique taste too. Although the menu said spring bamboo shoots, I was certain that we had winter bamboo shoots instead. Both Xiaobao and I liked 韭菜 because of its unique taste.
• 
• 东坡肉 “dong1 po1 rou4” – Braised Pork Dong Po Style. 东坡 referred to a famous poet named 蘇東坡 “Su1 Dong1 Po1” (1037 – 1101) of the Northern Song Dynasty. He once was Hangzhou’s chief officer and was responsible for the construction of Su causeway in Xihu. 东坡肉 followed his receipt and cooking style. The meat was very tender and melted in my mouth. The sauce was savory and not very oily. It was great.
• 
• 腐皮葱花肉 “fu3 pi2 cong1 hua1 rou4” – Tofu skin with Ground Pork and Green Onion. I have never had this dish before and that was the reason why I ordered this dish. It was crunchy on the outside, meaty on the inside and offered a good contrast on the texture. I didn’t like the sauce though.
• 
• 百花豆腐 “bai3 hua4 dou4 fu3” – Braised Tofu with Hundred Flowers. This dish was good with rice and I liked the sauce very much.
• 

We took our time but it was too much for us to finish. I could tell that both Bao and Xiaobao didn’t like 古越龍山 probably because they have never had this kind of rice wine before. 古越龍山 is a 黄酒 “hunag2 jiu3,” or yellow wine literally, due to its brownish color. 黄酒is commonly refers to 紹興酒 “shao4 xing1 jiu3” because the most famous 黄酒 has been made in the city of 紹興 “shao4 xing1” in Zhejiang Province (浙江省) for thousands of years. 黄酒 is usually drank warm and sometimes with one or two 酸梅 “shuan1 mei2” in your glass. The alcohol content of the wine is relatively low; around 15%.

We finished our meal around 10 PM. The outside was cold and windy. Bao wanted to go back to the hotel. We got a taxi and headed back to our hotel. On the way back, I found out that Hangzhou’s taxi drivers were a lot better off than Shanghai’s taxi drivers: Hangzhou’s taxi driver could easily make ¥10,000 to ¥12,000 a month, easily two to three times of that made by a Shanghai taxi driver. Hangzhou has many foreign tourists and its public transportation system, namely subway, surface light rail network and buses, wasn’t as developed as that in Shanghai.

Today has been a long day because we got up so early in the morning. We’d stay another day in Hangzhou tomorrow and then headed back to Shanghai tomorrow evening.