The Final Hours in Hangzhou

My project in Hangzhou finally ended this Friday. Woohoo! After living out of a suitcase for 3 weeks straight, the final culmination came when I presented on Friday in front of an audience full of 100 industry experts and executives. In the end, my team and I pulled through, and I couldn’t be more proud of them. When I went into the office on Saturday, there they were, putting together the final touches to our project and even throwing a small birthday party for one of our colleagues. At that time, I thought while Hangzhou was a grueling city to work in, the people made this trip well worth it…but that was before my final hours in this city.

The final hours in Hangzhou were no less adventurous. On Saturday, a couple of colleagues and I went to see the fireworks display in celebration of our success and of the West Lake 10th International Expo. Mike caught the high-speed train from Shanghai and joined us too, thinking we would have half a day to do some last minute sightseeing and relaxation. Our plans changed when we realized we had to start driving at 2 pm to get to the outskirts of the city and beat the traffic. One of my colleagues drove, but being an inexperienced driver, our car stalled 10 times on the streets, and we rolled backwards a few times because she didn’t step on the acceleration quickly enough. After sitting in the car (and praying for safety) for 2 hours (and getting lost 8 times), we finally parked the car. With some extra time, my colleagues and I decided to eat an early dinner. One of my coworkers highly recommended a restaurant so we followed her lead. Well, when we arrived at the restaurant, Mike and I caught an old lady de-feathering two chickens ON THE GROUND. There they were, two chickens, kicking their legs without any feathers. Luckily, the lady picked up the chickens and walked away, but then we saw the fresh, bloody raw meat sitting on the ground as well. Needless to say, we were both traumatized and were in a daze when we realized the ladies worked for the restaurant we were about to dine at. Of course, my coworker ordered a chicken dish, and when the waiter placed it on the table, both Mike and I meekly picked up our chopsticks and tried to nibble as little as we could without appearing rude. Mike later told me he felt really ill and scarred after that incident. Meanwhile, I think I’m ready to become a vegetarian again.

When we woke up this morning, we packed up our bags, and I said good-bye to Hangzhou. Or at least tried to. When we went to the train station, I tried to buy tickets to Shanghai, but was told that all trains to Shanghai were SOLD OUT. I was about to panic and curse this city out when a scalper approached me and sold his ticket for 54 RMB. Then Mike found another scalper who sold him a ticket for 80 RMB. It was a good thing he inspected and compared the two tickets, because we later realized mine was fake. So what did we do? We found another scalper, paid her an extra 26 RMB in exchange for a legitimate ticket so she could hustle another poor soul with the fake ticket.

I couldn't have been more relieved when I sat down (in my legitimate seat) on the train, looked out the window, and said good-bye to Hangzhou.