Saturday in Hangzhou

 Last night was -1 degree so a sleep in this morning was in order after riding home from dinner at 9pm the night before we then decided it was time to get out and about in Hangzhou. Riding our bike really means me peddling for a few minutes , letting the battery take over and then coasting for the next 100 metres. gives me  a little exercise and covers a lot more territory. These bikes are of course made for 40 kg Chinese people , not for the 150 + kgs of two fat westerners.  All was going good for the first kilometre then disaster!! I had forgotton to recharge the battery!. Now i had to really pedal while Christine is "resting" on the seat behind me and  snuggling up to keep warm We get a lot of looks from locals as we weave in and out of the traffic and many pedestrians. Of course traffic in China is on the right hand side, often confusing for us , added to this slight problem is the fact that traffic turning right can go at any time  if the road is clear. Even when we have right of way!!  . so as we casually pedal the 100 metres across these enormous intersections , buses and taxis constantly overshadow us.With no battery power this is even more fun than usual Christine moves even closer to me as adouble length bus misses us by inches.

We have decided to visit Booku this morning , a huge bookshop that is maybe 2-3 kilometres from home . Heaps of books and best of all they also have a coffee shop inside. After my peddling for 20 minutes and Christine sleeping and keeping warm on the back seat, we arrive at Booku, Right next door is a battery recharge place. These are everywhere in Hangzhou, pull in ,attach poweer plug , a few coins in the machine and wait 20 minutes. Hey presto  more power.

 Before going Booku we decide to check out the local markest adjacent to the recharge battery place.While waiting for the battery to charge I buy a magaazine which includes another magazine and a free 2012 diary for 5rmb (90c). We need to have a new front  door key cut  , someone lost theirs!!!  10 rmb and 2 minutes later , another problem fixed. We bought some local  food to eat ( it is cold, maybe 4 degrees by now. ( Todays maximum was a crisp 6 degrees, but felt like -6 as i was riding). Christine spots a shoe shop. I am using the term shop very liberally here, often they are just a leanto off the side of apartments, at least this one had lights inside. 20 minutes and 100rmb ( $15) later Christine has a new pair of fluffy lined boots  to keep her feet warm we then bought a fluffy pair of innersoles just the shot. she is now 5mm taller.

Next move , onto Booku we  park our bike out the front, along with hundreds of others. Booku has 3 floors of books, many in English. I find about 10 of them within a few minutes , most are only a few dollars, i could buy hundreds of them , space is now becoming a problem , how to get 50 kgs of books home ???? in a bike basket. Wayne also purchased very cheap CDs and DVDs   By this time we are getting hungry, so time to leave Booku and head home with lunch on the way home.