Wuxi & Hangzhou

Nov. 7

After another night in a fabulous high-end hotel, we were off to a pearl market. This part of China is one of the two cultured pearl centres of China. It was located in a very modern, well-organized facility, nothing like, say, the spice market of Istanbul.
We started off with a demonstration of pearl grades and their byproducts, and then had an oyster opened for us to reveal the pearls within. With an oyster, every opening is a surprise.

As well as having the 4 colours of pearl found in China, they also had a rare fifth colour – gold. The pendant below rang in at around $30 000. Yikes!

Next, we were off to Lingshan Mountain and a huge park developed by the government and devoted to Buddha. From this point onward, I shall refer to this place as Buddha World.
Since most people in China do not profess to be linked with any religion and since the People’s Republic has discouraged religious behaviour in the past, we found the development of this project to be curious to say the least. Our Chinese guides were equally nonplused about the expense on this project.

Buddha World is still under development, but the numerous ways in which Buddha is displayed and worshipped is already seriously impressive. There is everything from the huge bronze Buddha – shown above - larger than the Statue of Liberty, to the Buddha inside a lotus bloom atop a fountain that has a regular show where the Buddha comes out of the blossom and revolves with various water displays and music, to the reclining fat Buddha, to a couple of Buddhist temples.



Because of the huge scope of Buddha World, we elected to get around in their little trains. The train that took us up the hill to the foot of the giant Buddha was driven by a Mario Andretti wannabe. He just about threw us out on a couple of curves, but everybody, including the Chinese, were having a riot on the ride.

After lunch at Buddha World, we headed off to our next destination, Hangzhou, pronounced “hung-jo”. The city of 6 million relies primarily on tourism for its livelihood, so we expected it to be crawling with tourists once again. We were not disappointed.

By the time we got into town, the sun was setting so we went to only one site – the Yellow Dragon Cave, which is where people come if they are in need of a mate. There were matchmakers on site ready to assist. And, by the way, there is no cave, only a little grotto with a small yellow dragon’s head.

Then it was once again dinnertime. Most of our group has enjoyed the challenge of the new food and I have to say, as someone who isn’t overly fond of Canadian Chinese food, that the food here is much better. But by now, everyone is hankering for good old Canadian food. Soon!
This evening, we were in the Canal Hotel in downtown Hangzhou – another first class establishment - and we had some time to socialize a bit before calling it a night.