During my time in the US in 2016 (see my post Navajo Nation), I made a lot of friends from China, all of whom live in the city of Hangzhou. They were in the same program back then, so we spent a lot of time together and became fast friends. I promised I was going to come and visit them. Now was the time to do so.
The first evening, they invited us to a huge traditional Chinese Hotpot dinner. It was such a unique experience. We tried basically anything under the sun that I would or wouldn’t consider food. Both exotic and familiar ingredients, cooked fresh on the table in either a mild savory broth or a really hot chili broth with sichuan peppers. I immediately fell in love with Chinese Hotpot.
We stayed in Hangzhou for a few days and my friends took us everywhere, including a 3 hour roadtrip to some small village, because we wanted to get away from the big cities for a change. Here’s some photos from that trip:
Sadly, I didn’t take many photos in Hangzhou, I was too busy catching up with my friends and what they’ve been doing those past 2 years. But trust me, the city is really pretty and has a lot to offer.