We had an early morning because we had to catch a morning flight to HangZhou. The hotel had kindly provided us with pre-packed breakfast because we left the hotel at 6:10am before they even started their breakfast. It was one of the few times we experienced clear traffic on the road which made it easy for us to arrive at the airport on time.The plane ride lasted for less than an hour; the trip was so short that the seat belt sign did not even turn off the whole time. We also had the luxury of being served a succulent and delicious chicken burger during our flight.

Upon arrival, we were met with our new guide, Jill/ Zhou. She entertained us during our bus ride with stories of Hangzhou, which is famous for her love stories, mainly of The White Snake and The Butterfly Lovers. Also, Hangzhou is a picturesque city known as one of the national garden cities of China. More than 20 million tourists come to Hangzhou to view the West Lake and taste their Dragon Well Tea, which have been frequently gifted to world leaders.

Our first stop of the day was the 6 Harmony Pagoda which was built in the Song Dynasty about 1100 years ago. The six harmonies represents: wealth, health, family harmony, natural death, more babies, and ascension of social class. When we first got there, we were greeted by a ritualistic performance of a Chinese Wedding. At the same time there was a singing competition and the person who could sing the song with the word "flower" in it would emerge as the winner. At the end of the performance, they threw candy at the audience which made our friends Kevin and Andy very happy. After that the group split up and some went up to explore the pagoda while some walked around and explored some of the statues. Kristin and Meiling went up to the top of the pagoda; we were all prepared for the 13 story walk after the training we got from The Great Wall. The view from the top was breathtaking because of our vantage point. Andrew and George went around the premises of the garden and George rang the six harmony bell and got himself a bell trinket which was meant to keep him safe.

After that, we went to the West Lake for a boat ride.We went on a large wooden boat with several other Asian tourists and cruised around the West Lake for thirty minutes. On the ride, Jill told us many stories about the lake. There was supposedly a girl sea monster or snake that lived in the lake and was very angry because she was the last of her kind. The others had been killed off by the villagers. This girl snake saw a handsome man,and decided to turn herself into a woman to be with him. The villagers then tried to prevent the wedding. The rest of the ride was very peaceful. There was a light rain, but many of us still sat outside in the open on the back of the boat.

After the ride was over, we headed back to the bus for lunch at a restaurant near the river. We had a tasty meal that consisted of many dishes including several types of fish. There was pork, chicken, and veggies as well. When our lunch was over we got back on the bus for our journey to the "Dragon Well" tea plantation. We loved getting free samples of green tea at the Dragon Well Plantation and Tea House :-). In its six hundred year history of perfecting a luxurious taste, a real tea drinker in China today is categorized as someone who never drinks tea from a tea bag. While the Chinese save the very best leaves for the government's consumption, the lowest quality tea is shipped to the United States and other foreign nations. To extend their Chinese welcome to us, the presenters moved the kettle up and down three times while pouring water into our clear glasses, which means, "you are very welcome." Tea also has many health benefits, like cleaning the mouth, intestines, and blood system, and chewing on the actual leaves even helps digestion. The tea was so fragrant and refreshing that we had to buy some for our families and friends!