Sightseeing in Hangzhou- Tea Farm & Special G20 Event (Nov 5, 2016)

I had a pretty busy week! Our group did a mini sightseeing trip in Hangzhou.


First we went to a local tea farm, one of the few in the province to make authentic Longjing tea (called "Meijia"). We also took part in a tea ceremony! When they pour the tea, they pour down and lift up the pot a total of 3 times. It's 3 times because that's supposed to mean "Xie xie ni."


I bought a tin of Longjing tea (the 2nd highest quality), just a baby tin because it was pretty expensive.


We also climbed the Leifeng Pagoda, where we were able to see a birdseye view of the West Lake!


The pagoda featured many amazing and intricate carvings of the buddha and his journey towards nirvana.


The funny part about the temple was that it's considered to be one of the most modern. There's actually an escalator that can take you to the base of the pagoda and an elevator inside that takes you to the top. The line was very long though, so we took the stairs.



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A few days later, we participated in a really cool G20 "International Day" event. It was really fancy, and we all dressed up in suits or dresses for the occasion. All the guests of the event were foreigners, but we were the only students; everyone else was much older (like 50s and 60s)!


We joined a tour group that took us around the city to give us a taste of Hangzhou. First we visited a traditional Chinese pharmacy (it's now a museum but still acts as a pharmacy too).


Then went to a silk museum! I thought this pic was funny because one lady was sitting way up high to create the pattern for the silk weaving.


We also got a free rickshaw ride at the opening ceremony of the G20 event! There were so many photographers trying to take pics of us foreigners (especially my friend Alec).


Now to the really cool parts! We got to see many of the meeting rooms where all the leaders actually gathered (including Obama!) and take pics next to the official G20 sign.




Rather than this being a holiday celebrated nationally throughout China, I think this "International Day" was more so an occasion for a small group of foreigners who were invited to come tour the G20 buildings. We didn't participate in any discussions on trade or climate change- that would've been cool to learn more about what the leaders actually talked about. It was mostly just touring with an opening and closing ceremony- the closing ceremony was a nice outdoor party with tons of free hour deurves, and I took so much food haha!


Finished the day by visiting the West Lake at sunset.