A Breath of Fresh Air

I have been in China for more than two weeks now (that anniversary came and went on Thursday) and this Tuesday will mark the two week mark of me living in Cangqian just outside of the city of Hangzhou. Yes, I am technically outside of the city but there are still days when you cannot see the sun or the sky and that may not always have to do with cloud cover (let's be honest--we all know that it's pollution). So when I was given the chance to venture out of the city and into the local countryside yesterday, I jumped on the opportunity!

The few days of rain and haze were behind us and it was a beautiful sunny (and hot) day where the sky was almost blue and you could even see the mountains in the distance.

Adam and I hopped on a few buses and after not too long, we were on our way!

Yay for long, hot bus rides!!

The ride out of the city and into the local town was absolutely beautiful and the much needed natural therapy that I needed. Hangzhou is considered to be the "greenest" city in China and not because they are environmentally friendly (because, well, it's China) but because they have a lot of trees and plants all around the city. Of course, coming from Western New York where we have Letchworth State Park, Allegany State Park, and some of my favorite hiking trails of all time (Erie County Forest Preserve for the win!), to say that there are a lot of trees here in Hangzhou is like a bad joke that makes you want to cry. However, the further from the city you drove, the more trees you saw.

It was just so nice to see green. Good, deep, beautiful, wonderful GREEN. I found that I missed it. More than I thought I would. The way the sun shines through leaves on the tops of the trees, the green hue you see everywhere, the few patches of sunlight that reach the ground--I love it! While the trees we drove by were nothing like the forests in New York and other parts of America, I did find myself feeling like I was right back at home. At one point, I spotted a log cabin that made me feel like I was back camping at Allegany when I was a little girl. Needless to say, I got excited when I saw the familiar sight.

After about a 30 minute bus ride, we got off in the middle of a small town with winding streets, alleyways, and mountains and hills towering up above you just covered in rows and rows of tea.

Now for those of you who know me, I love tea. Despite my post on coffee and cafes here in China (found right here!), I love me some tea and never pass up the chance to drink it (some might call me a tea snob). So many shops that sell tea (like Teavana in the mall) like to tell you where your tea comes from and many times they tell the story of how your cup of tea has tea leaves in it that came from China, hand picked in tea fields growing up the side of mountains. I always find these stories interesting but I also always thought that they were probably a bit exaggerated to make their tea exotic and more desirable than the teabags you can get at the grocery store. Well I do like to be proven wrong sometimes.

This town was made up of a single road where cars, bikes, and buses zoomed by and surrounding the tea houses and restaurants were steep hills (I like to call them mountains even though it's probably not true) and you just saw rows and rows of tea going on for as far as you can see (for me that is not very far but you get the idea). It looked like a big green, cozy quilt just covering the hills.

See? Cozy quilt!!

It was one of the coolest things I have seen since I've gotten to China. Having been surrounded by tall buildings, honking cars, and nonstop construction, it was so surreal and cleansing to be surrounded by the natural beauty of China (not to mention my little tea snob heart was in its glory).

We walked past some women working in the field who waved at us and called out, "Ni hao!"

Everything was so relaxed and simpler. I've only been in China for two weeks but this was much needed. It is crazy to think that I've only been in China for 17 days now and I've been in Cangqian for only 12 days--so much has happened: I've done so much, met so many amazing people, eaten so much street food... oh yeah... and started teaching.

It feels like I've been here for months already... And I admit that I cannot wait to see what more China has in store for me...

Until Next Time,
Amanda