26August
2015

Hangzhou

大家好!

After about 26 hours of traveling I have finally made it to Hangzhou, China. After the orientation days I will move in with my host family in Beijing on Saturday.

Getting here was a bit of an adventure. We had to take a long distance bus from the airport and Chinese traffic is absolutely insane. They have bumpy highways and cars pass each other on any lane. Chinese drivers also honk excessively so that you never know whether you actually have to pay attention or the person behind you wants you to go faster. One of the first things I noticed was a tricycle with furniture on it, and a person was sitting on top of the furniture. I also saw a woman riding a bike one-handedly so that she could hold an umbrella in the other hand in order to not get a tan. Watching the streets here is definitely entertaining.

My first purchase in China. I had no idea what I was buying, it ended up being cold tea with milk and lots of sugar.

 

My first purchase in China. I had no idea what I was buying, it ended up being cold tea with milk and lots of sugar.

 

On the way to Hangzhou

On the way to Hangzhou

 

Our hotel

This is the hotel where we are staying

 

People dancing in the street at night

People dancing in the street at night

 

For dinner we had noodle soup with slices of corn cobs. You have to pick them up with your chopsticks and eat the corn off them without dropping them. The food was really good though!

Tomorrow is our first orientation day. We're also going on a tour of Hangzhou and the West Lake. I will post pictures tomorrow night :)