My Visit to Hang Zhou in 2023

我的外国朋友要去杭州，特别帮她翻译了这篇我之前写的杭州九溪游记。翻译的过程比较仓促，应该有不少还需要完善的地方，不过翻译的过程很有趣。特此发布，以留作纪念。

After breakfast, we took a walk along Nine Streams Road. Nice Streams area was very much in line with me - quiet, peaceful, not chasing fame and power. Everywhere was green, covered by the huge camphor tree, which I could not hold with my arms.  There were also so many tea gardens, scattered here and there, winding up the hills. The whole nine streams area was in a green dress. A lot of shy birds were hiding in the thick shade of the trees, and from time to time one or two of them chatted and sang, touching the heartstrings of visitors. The babbling stream flew by the roadside, making people involuntarily look at the water – how lovely the water ripples were and how bright our eyes were twinkling in the water.

We climbed over the Yangmei Ridge and continued to walk along Manjiulong Road and then encountered the China Tea Museum. Right in front of us up the stairs was a plague hanging above the grand door, on which four Chinese characters “致清导和" was written, which clearly expressed the connotation of Chinese tea culture -  at ease with yourself and fit with the world around you. The museum was built near the mountain, and the tea craft exhibition hall was arranged on both sides of the road. When I came to the Fuding White Tea Exhibition Hall, I also walked over and gently pushed the bamboo flat that used to shake the fresh green tea leaves, and at this moment in my mind was the silver tea needles standing upright in the cup.

Not far away from the museum was the West Lake, and I believed there would be thousands of people at West Lake that day, but thinking of such a lovely lake nearby, I just could not help but walking along the Longjing Road to the Lake. The West Lake was still very beautiful, just as what was in my memory! Its clear water rippled in green waves with willow branches swaying in the wind and lotus held their graceful heads up. There were so many people there, so I only sat for a while and then got up and left.

I took a taxi with my son and started to drive back to my hotel. As expected I saw traffic jams everywhere, Yanggong Dyke congestion, Huran road congestion, and this did not change until our taxi came into Zhijiang road. Zhijiang Road was along the Qian Tang River with several universities nearby. I read some books written by Mr. Zhu Shenghao, a native Zhejiang resident born in 1912. He was the first person who translated Shakespear into Chinese and besides he also wrote a lot of romantic letters to his girlfriend who became his wife later. I rolled down the taxi window to let in the breeze from Qiantang River while kept thinking of Zhu Shenghao’s letters - "I am willing to spend the patience of all my life, looking forward to meeting you, even if only for a second". Thinking of that I smiled – people in Zhejiang are always so romantic!

Finally I was back to the hotel! This quiet place in the middle of the tea garden was the best and most comfortable in my eyes. My little boy went downstairs with his kite 🪁, and after a while I heard him croaking like a frog. I made a cup of local tea and sat at the balcony, starting to read some poems. At first, I heard my son talking witg the frogs in the pond: "Little frog, I will fly a kite for you. Look!" After a while I heard him mimicking the frogs again and as time went by I just couldn’t tell whether it was the frog or him.