Hangzhou

Ni hao! You all may be tired of China stories, but too bad -- you get to hear more.

Report on the dumplings: amazing. There were 16 courses of dumplings, all in the shapes of whatever they were filled with. Little chicken-shaped dumplings, and fish-shaped dumplings, and walnut-shaped dumplings. So delicious! One of the best things in Xi'an, for sure. The Terra Cotta warriors were absolutely breathtaking. And FREEZING. Seriously, I feel like I've spent the last two weeks in a deep freezer. Xi'an was the capital of China thousands of years ago before Beijing, and had the golden age of Chinese culture. We saw a dancing show highlighting the Tang Dynasty's achievements. Pretty impressive - lots of acrobatics. It snowed so much in Xi'an, we were afraid our plane to Hangzhou (say it Han Jo) would be cancelled. But we made it here alive.

It's much warmer here, but so, so, so rainy. I'm not sure which is worse, because we seem to be outside all the time. The city is much more modern than Xi'an...it seems like it could be almost any city. Okay, maybe not ANY city. It's kind of resort-like, with a gigantic lake in the middle. Apparently it's a popular honeymoon destination for Chinese couples. Very beautiful, although I wish it would stop raining! Tomorrow, we're visiting a Red Cross hospital here and taking a cruise on the lake. On Tuesday, we take a train to Suzhou...I think I'm spelling that correctly. The internet bars can be difficult to find, but I'm sure you'll hear from me again. Love you all!