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Hangzhou,
earlier Hangchhow, is only 100-odd kilometres away
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| Weeping willows of Hangzhou |
from Suzhou and is another
beautiful city in the Yangtze basin. It is also ancient and has been the
capital of Southern Song Dynasty from the 12th Century until Mogul
invasions of the 13th Century. Reckoned as one of the most beautiful
cities of China, Hangzhou was probably included in our itinerary for its
touristic interests. Its West Lake, a huge water body, has since been declared
a World Heritage Site. Most of the touristy activities were restricted in and
around it and, like Suzhou, numerous gardens were laid around it.
Among the
ancient cultural items the Six Harmonies Pagoda is
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| A Chines porcelain vase |
important. Unfortunately we
could not see it. Hangzhou is known as the “Porcelain Capital”. Chinese
ceramics and porcelain are known the world over from ancient times. After all,
the word “china” came into being because of Chinese exquisite ceramics. Their
porcelain is of a fine variety, smooth to touch, translucent and delicate in
looks. In a garden we came across ceramic furniture – stools, tables and
things.
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| Colleagues taking in the beauty of a Hangzhou garden |
Like in Suzhou,
the gardens are beautifully maintained with lovely colourful pavilions.
Beautifully designed and painted from inside each is a work of art. In one of
them a shutterless and glassless window showed well-tended plants in natural
setting. It appeared like a painting and but for the window frames one would
have taken it as such. Some of the
pavilions were decorated with massive porcelain vessels of various colours,
mostly blue and red overlaid by painted flowers. Those were things to be seen
to be believed for our uninitiated eyes.
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All photos were taken by self
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| A shutter-less & glass-less window |
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| Ceramic furniture |
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| A showy boat on Hanzhou Lake |
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