Green Tea and West Lake

Our day in Hangzhou, one of China’s renowned tea capitals, began after breakfast with a special visit to a Tea House at Meijiawu Tea Village. This village, nestled in the hinterland of West Lake Park, is a prime location for Longjing Tea production. I was particularly looking forward to this, as it was a place my friend, Sue, and I had visited on our 2014 tour, and I had wonderful memories of wandering freely through the fields.

However, the weather had other plans. The rain continued, making the terraced fields too slippery and treacherous for me to navigate this time. The risk of falling over was just too great. I had a moment of real sadness, to be honest—a sharp pang of disappointment at this new limitation, a stark contrast to the freedom I’d had before my lower-limb amputation.

But while the fields were off-limits, the experience was not. We gathered in the Tea House, where we were immersed in the local tea culture. We learned how the famous Longjing Tea is picked and prepared, and were served some beautiful green tea. I learned more about the nuances of tea in that single session than I had in my entire life.

This led to a truly remarkable discovery. I had woken with unusually high blood sugar levels (13.3), a common but worrying occurrence for those of us with diabetes. I was taking things slowly, but I was concerned.

After drinking several cups of the green tea during the demonstration, I tested my levels again out of curiosity. They had gone down quite significantly. It wasn’t just me; another woman on the trip who also monitors her blood sugar reported the same effect. I resolved then and there to make green tea a bigger part of my life back home in Australia, perhaps in preference to coffee.

After that, we went for a short boat ride on West Lake. This is no ordinary lake; it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site, so famous for its beauty that it’s featured on the one-yuan banknote. For centuries, its serene landscape has inspired countless poets and artists, becoming a symbol of the idealised fusion of nature and human creation.

While these kinds of cruises can sometimes be a bit predictable, this experience was a delightful exception. I made a point of being the first person to board, which allowed me to find a perfect little spot for myself outside. A number of others from the tour group joined me there, and it was a beautiful spot to watch the scenery unfold.

From our vantage point on the water, you could truly appreciate the landscape that has been so celebrated in Chinese art. We glided serenely across the water, past the famous Su and Bai Causeways, which are lined with an elegant arrangement of willow and peach trees. We saw charming, pagoda-topped islands, the most iconic being the three small stone pagodas of ‘Three Pools Mirroring the Moon’ that rise from the water. In the distance, the silhouette of the Leifeng Pagoda on the shore completed the picturesque scene.

Having that great spot made all the difference, turning a simple boat ride into a genuinely beautiful and memorable part of the day.

From there, we headed towards Shanghai, with an optional activity: the chance to watch “ERA: The Intersection of Time,” a Chinese acrobatic show. It was, however, about a 60-minute drive from the centre of Shanghai, which we discovered was a fairly recurrent situation on this tour. Staying in accommodation a fair distance from the main tourist hubs, I guess, is a key part of what makes such a trip so affordable. In preparation for the next day, I chose to stay at the hotel and rest up.