West Lake, Hangzhou

One of the world's most revered beauty spots, West Lake in  Hangzhou has been painted, written about, mused upon and visited since the 9th century.  I followed Marco Polo's example and went for the long May Labor Day weekend.  And yes, it is beautiful.  And crowded.  And noisy.  It sort of encapsulates everything about what China is for me.  The glance at one thing so lovely it takes your breath away.  Then the immediate counter moment to that when something really revolting happens.  The Yin Yan of Mainland China.  And I had a revelation of sorts while walking through these beautiful, serene, carefully constructed landscapes around the Lake....that truly to be swept away by beauty, all senses need to be engaged.  Sight, sound, smell, even the movement of wind of your skin.  The gardens of Japan do that: engage all senses, because they are quiet, and beautiful, and very zen.  Riding my horse in Griffith Park does that:  the sound of trees and wind and gentle equine breathing as you look over the hills is a fast track to calm.  But it never quite happens here.  The chaos of China just never stops.  But you try.  Focus your view away from the crowds.  Try to ignore the blaring horns or incessant whistles kids are blowing.  Stand nearer to a rose bush to capture that smell and not the one of garlic sausage being snacked on by the passerby.  There are moments, absolutely.  But it's not easy...

Flowers of Shanghai

The winter here is long, and  cold, and dreary.  I am not a fan of winter, but in a lot of places you get snow, or fun brisk walks in fresh bracing air, or hot fires and warm blankets.  Shanghai doesn't feel like that in winter.  It is bleak, cold rain and sometimes dirty grey snow....not pretty and  the air is far from fresh and brisk.  So when spring comes, it feels really, really good.  Like a sort of affirmation that things can be pretty again.  Maybe the air is still filthy, maybe the incessant construction still continues, but the Shanghainese love their flowers, and they start appearing everywhere, which is a good, good thing.