Last week we had the privilege of a visit from Andy's Dad Tom. Can I just state for the record that we love visitors!? And we have plenty of room in our house for people to stay with us..... so, if you have ever wanted to visit China....
I digress. On Saturday we drove to Hangzhou to spend the weekend. Hangzhou is beautiful city located on XiHu (West Lake). After a long drive battling traffic, we arrived and visited the tea museum. There is a whole lot more to the growing and even brewing tea that I ever imagined. The kids were interested to see what tea bushes look like and some of the machinery used for the pressing and drying of the tea leaves. After touring the museum, we went to the hotel to rest up, had a marvelous dinner, and then went to the show called Impressions. We had been before but it is an amazing show using the water as the stage (the actual stage is 3 cm below the surface of the water so the performers look as if they are walking on water). The show, which is choreographed by the man who did the opening ceremony for the Olympics, takes place in the evening and uses lights and music in a breathtaking way. But it made for quite a late night and we were more than ready for bed at the end. In fact, Josh and Tori feel asleep in the midst of the performance.
The next morning we spent some time just enjoying the scenery of the lake. First enjoying our coffee on Starbuck's balcony overlooking the lake. We then took a boat to one of the islands in the middle of West Lake. It was a wonderful weekend. Here some of the highlights in pics:
Outside the tea museum
A man working in the tea fields
We have so many pictures of our kids in these "keyhole" doorways. But they are always adorable, so I had to post yet another.
Becca and Grandpa having a discussion while riding on the boat.
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