I'm Back, Back, Back Again... Hangzhou, China!

With my theatre tickets booked for the following day, I hopped onto that Hangzhou bound train from Ningbo with a certain feeling in my heart. Eight years had passed since my initial visit to Hangzhou, those Wuhan days felt like a lifetime ago! This provincial Zhejiang city was about to give me all the feels and a very bad hangover the next morning! Hangzhou, tell me what's good?!

That Friday evening departure from Ningbo Railway Station was like no other, I had a feeling and it wasn't just the weekend talking! Ningbo has so far been a base, not a destination, I have hardly seen the city and I feel alright with that outcome almost three years down the track. I have to keep it real! I needed to neck those cans on the train, the less than hour journey saw me supping on those beers at breakneck speed, no waste would be had! I had passed through Hangzhou East several times before on the way to places like Shanghai, Suzhou and Nanjing but no calling point had been made in HGH, that needed to change! Cans destroyed, I stepped onto the platform from the Fuxing train. The lights almost blinded me, it was a lot, in the moment it did feel like 'is this what a real train station looks like? Don't hate on me Ningbo, I just feel like Ningbo West isn't something I am prepared to hang around for. I no longer dreamt of a Shanghai transfer because I eyed a Hangzhou return of another kind! Let's start this weekend! 

Should I move here? A seed had been planted even thought I also had eyes for Suzhou but I had clocked a few '小红书/Little Red Book' highlights in HZ, I had done! Even though I had matinee theatre tickets booked for the Saturday, I could already feel the warmth in the air during that summer night. I had barely exited the platform and grand plans for the night ahead had been made! I knew the weekend would be eventful, ebbing closer to the document check, I felt that something natural would be felt as I was reunited with Hangzhou. Was this weekend field research? Had I unknowingly walked into potential weekend scene of the future? The distance between Ningbo and Hangzhou meant that it was around 19:30 in the evening, I had plans to get something to eat before I considered any further nighttime drinks. Ningbo was just down the train-line but it all felt very familiar as I stepped onto the metro towards '武林门/Wulinmen'. Was I catching feels or just in another delusional era? You know what, it felt great to be back!

Something felt different, I stepped out from the '地铁/Metro' exit into the warm nighttime scene with so many emotions felt. The journey from Ningbo had been rapid and best still, no flight had been involved, something told me that Ningbo wouldn't be a difficult place to visit from Hangzhou in the future. Anywho, I skirted past '武林广场/Wulin Square' with the theatre standing before me, I had tickets booked to see the West End production 'A Life of Pi' the following day. I had to keep refreshing my memory like you'd do with an internet window with a bad connection, something didn't quite add up! No! I had chowed down at a Pizza Hut in the same area in April 2017, something really didn't look the same! Come to think of it, Hangzhou didn't have a '大剧院/Grand Theatre' during those 2017 days! Correct me if I'm wrong? I knew that I had more to discover in that area, that pursuit could wait because I had enough shenanigans live out! Where was my hotel? I needed to drop my bag and get some food! 

My budget hotel was located within '武林门/Wulinmen' but I was on a different kind of path. I embraced those city alleys, I married the night with promises made, I was not playing! The noise of the streets was intoxicating because a usual night in my ends in Ningbo really is docile, that sister city sleeps on. I welcomed the traffic and the buses passing me, I wanted it all! I walked through a shaded park with elders do their square dances, the summer heat lingered on into the nighttime. Dropping my bag was fun, even though Hangzhou stands as a bigger city, those reception workers were gooped as they saw my passport, a whole British Passport! I am sometimes fussy with food when I'm on the beat because I've become a creature of habit, I picked a simple hangout, ordering a plate with rice and vegetables sorted me! I had refuelled and stayed away from the booze for a temporary intermission, I had some sense left in me! Sobered up enough, that quick meal had refreshed me as I walked into the night with a taxi called! Go, H!

Pour me up, Hangzhou! The working week didn't need to be looking into my cup because 'Sip Site/幸福' hooked me up! It wasn't BYOB because I scanned that QR for my first gin cocktail of the night, sure it was followed by a shot of tequila! I had done my research prior to my Hangzhou arrival, I never play with my drinking time! Was I doing some nighttime field research? Thinking about it in the here and now, I absolutely was scouting those bars for a regular Hangzhou night out situation. People were out and about, the temperature was still at a berserk digit, those 'Sip Site' beverages were keeping me cool! Was I getting boozed up? You know what? I was halfway there already, with a few cocktails and shot seen off, I was on something different! Ningbo could never! There's no shade, it's just truth because I have never been drawn to summer hangouts in Ningbo after dark! Another one? 'Sip Site' knew to rack me up another cocktail and shot! Where would I go to next? I had one more drink left in me! I did! 

Now, I love myself a 'blue drink' but a craft beer pint should never be neon blue! I know to translate menus in the future, I couldn't believe it because I know '蓝色/Blue' in Chinese! I sat at the bar with maybe one last drink left me after that mystery blue pint, one for the road it was! These days, I keep things simple but from out of nowhere a guy a little younger than me started talking to me with an energy that I appreciated. Conversation was easy, it wasn't something that I would get in Ningbo and especially in English! Hangzhou has shown me her true intentions, I couldn't argue with anything presented to me that night! A taxi was in order! I somehow needed to eat again! I ordered lots of Xinjiang BBQ because that is the only drunk food you need in your life whilst in China! Hangzhou had welcomed me with a vibe that I never wanted to lose! I needed my bed, making my way back to the hotel posed no issue, the early hours of that Saturday were summery as ever! My heart was full but my head would be hurting, that's my life! 

Let's Not Be Strangers! 

Desperately Seeking Adventure