China has been amazing so far. Nothing sort of good and cheap (although oily) food, being spoilt for choices on taobao and exploring new eye-opening grounds.
Adventure decided that we take a walk through the background of Hangzhou city. And so some of us did, with our ZJU buddies.
3:30 am
Since we wanted to catch the glorious sun rise and since summer means that the sun rises awfully early (about 5am), we started our journey towards West Heaven at 3:30am up to Bei Gao Feng (quite close but not yet).
4:50 am
While the sky was covered with fog, the sky brightened and illuminated the city and sight below us, revealing the shy Xihu area of Hangzhou city wearing a veil of fog over it.
With that, we proceeded with our slow descend down to the famous LingYin temple. Passing through a small village and garden.
6:50 am
The famous LingYin temple comprised of 2 portion where there is the FeiLai Peak and the hill which the temples are built on. Legend has it that the FeiLai Peak flew over from India! Also, LingYin temple is counted as being an inch away from the west gate of Heaven.
As with many historically rich and long standing countries, religion has had a big hand in shaping its history. Similarly, Buddhism has shaped China to a very large extent, from the way people think to the way the country was governed. These were and still are forces that we might not take note of but they do in fact change our stories.
And that marks the end of our journey in search of West Heaven. As we rested our legs and minds from the path through scenic and historical background of Hangzhou city, we were charmed not only by what we saw but also by what we learnt. China keeps getting more and more beautiful.
– Daniel
