dulemba: Hangzhou - Our personal fall-apart party

Yaxi and I worked hard on this trip. Between the Book Fair and the lecture, we both were ON for several days and talked until we lost our voices. So, by the time we finished the lecture, we were ready to seriously fall over. One of the faculty members at Hangzhou recommended a lovely teahouse in the middle of a garden, so that's where we headed.

The teahouse was inside a beautiful garden. It was immediately obvious we were in for something special.

The teahouse itself was made of three lovely buildings.

We had to wait for a bit until a table was free, but enjoyed the company of the women who were preparing greens for the kitchen.

We got a bit carried away when ordering and accidentally ordered too much for lunch. Here is what our feast was made up of.
Braised duck...

Crab on rice cakes.

Lotus root stuffed with rice (I've shared this dish a few times - it's a popular one.

Millet sponge cakes...

Noodles with greens...

Okra in a honey sauce with onions

Barbequed shrimp...

Congealed peach nectar with lychee fruit...

There was also an oatmeal and sweet corn drink that was simply delicious, but not as photogenic. Everything was so inexpensive, this feat ran us about $40 for the both of us, if you can believe it! At least we knew it wouldn't go to waste - they gave all leftovers to the very happy geese.