../

// Hangzhou Travelogue
#import "/template-en.typ": *

#doc-template(
title: "Hangzhou Travelogue",
date: "December 30th, 2018",
body: [

A few days ago, I was sent by my supervisor to Hangzhou to participate in a training session. I stayed in Hangzhou for a total of three days. Excluding the two days spent on training, there was a little spare time, so this can also be seen as a short-term trip.

I went by high-speed rail and got off at Hangzhou East Station. My first impression of this city was somewhat negative, which was unfortunate. When I got off and was looking for a restroom, I saw a sign that said "Restroom 100 meters ahead," so I started a 100-meter sprint without thinking. However, there was no restroom ahead. When I turned back, I found that the restroom was actually behind the sign.

The training on the second and third days was hosted by a startup in the blockchain field. Although I hold a pessimistic view of blockchain, this company indeed has a rare kind of "cool." Their core product lines all use Rust, and all their products are open-source (using the Apache license). In China's current environment, such an enterprise is somewhat rare.

In the evening, I had time to visit the West Lake. My Xiaomi phone seemed to have used a night-scene photography algorithm after an update; it was incredibly bright, but the effect was not much better. However, since it's an 800 RMB Redmi phone, I can't demand too much.

I saw the glowing Leifeng Pagoda in the distance. But that Leifeng Pagoda is no longer the one that suppressed the White Snake; it was rebuilt in 2002. The original Leifeng Pagoda had collapsed, and the reason for the collapse was quite funny. According to the #link("https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A5%BF%E6%B9%96", "records I found"):

#myquote[
   Due to the legend that the bricks of Leifeng Pagoda could be used to cure diseases, strengthen the body, or prevent miscarriage, people had long been grinding powder from the bricks and digging them out. On the afternoon of September 25, 1924, the almost hollowed-out foundation could no longer bear the weight and suddenly collapsed entirely.
]

The people back then were truly terrifyingly ignorant.

On the Hangzhou Metro, I also saw two familiar place names: "Xueyuan Road" and "Chaoyang," which gave me the illusion that I was in Beijing.

On Saturday morning, I visited the West Lake again, this time during the day. I didn't take any tourist photos; after all, I don't have professional equipment and lack photographic composition skills. Walking on the Bai Causeway, although the wind was a bit cold, it felt very refreshing.

#myquote[
    "I love most the east of the lake, I cannot see enough, / In the shade of green poplars is the white sand causeway."
]

I went to the Tomb of Yue Fei by the West Lake. Next to the Tomb of Yue Fei are the kneeling statues of Qin Hui and others. For hundreds of years, spitting on the statue of Qin Hui was probably a fixed entertainment item, but recently this entertainment item has disappeared. Because a sign was erected there: "Civilized visit, please do not spit." And the passing tourists all complied. I'm not sure whether to lament the disappearance of the custom or to praise the improvement of tourists' civilized quality.

To the right of the Tomb of Yue Fei is the Tomb of Yue Yun. When I was a child, I really liked reading "The Complete Tale of Yue Fei." Coming here today also fulfilled a long-held wish. Even looking at it now, this book is not a good book: it not only disregards history but also contains remnants of the old era and a bit of "Han chauvinism."

Generally, I don't buy so-called local specialties, but since my companions all did, I followed suit and bought a little. As it turned out when I got back, the place of origin was Fujian. Indeed, tourists' money is the easiest to cheat. I certainly won't buy them again in the future.

])