For the May Day holiday this week, I decided it would be best to just stick around Hangzhou. Being one who is slightly put off by these travel periods in China when surging crowds do fierce battle across all modes of transportation, I figured I’d just put the money towards summer plans. Besides, I already live in one of the country’s top tourist destinations so I don’t have to go very far to see what the fuss is all about.
Yesterday’s weather was glorious, with blue skies and sunshine complimented by a temperature that was just right. So after lunch I decided to lose myself in the city, to just start wandering aimlessly with my trusty camera in hand. The Grand Canal is just a few blocks west of my apartment, so I figured I’d follow it north and see where that took me.
Why north? Well, about 10-15 minutes south of my apartment complex begins the downtown core of Hangzhou, with all the reflective glass towers, shopping malls and overpriced Western food one could possibly desire. And thanks to the West Lake, this area is also currently rammed with floods of tourists. I’ve been down that way countless times, but yesterday I was in the mood for something different. Even a city buff like myself can only take so many pictures of hastily-built highrises.
What I found up there pleasantly surprised me. First and foremost, the area is green. Really green. Along the banks of the canal run incredibly peaceful footpaths surrounded by lush vegetation. Many of the streets have yet to be given the modernization treatment, and that means they are shaded by beautiful huge old trees. Everyone seemed to be sitting around outside chatting or playing cards, giving the area one of the most laidback vibes I have felt in China. It has the feel of a real street neighbourhood, its relative obscurity saving it from the fierce traffic snarls of the city core. Somehow, this seemed more like the Hangzhou everyone described to me before I moved here.
The first part of my walk took me through perhaps the most familiar urban scene in China, consisting of buzzing neighbourhood streets lined with the patented six-storey apartment block complexes. Thankfully though, many of these concrete monstrosities are painted rather bright colours around here, minimizing their dreary appearance. But as I moved further north things quickly got poorer and more destitute. What’s this, poverty in Hangzhou? Impossible!
Hangzhou’s glitzy highrise trend hasn’t really made it here yet, so it feels more like a large cluster of villages that eventually grew and smashed into each other. Lots of old homes, shanty-town style huts, crumbling communist area blocks and narrow little streets. But, of course, it wouldn’t be China if some developer didn’t try to stick a luxury condo project right in the middle of all of it. Prime real estate like this won’t stay in the hands of the masses for long.
It’s a bit of an eye-opener to see this sort of living so close to Hangzhou’s core. The way many people talk about China’s development these days, you would think the whole east coast has become New York while the rest of the country wallows in the Dark Ages. However, even in these “rich” coastal provinces it doesn’t take going very far outside a city’s center to see miles of decidedly third world settlements. But then again no self-respecting West Lake tour groups would be caught dead anywhere near here. Too bad for them, they are missing some beautiful parks and canal scenery.
In all, this day of sunshine, lush foliage and relaxing streets put a great face on Hangzhou.