The joys of the Chinese queueing system!

My stay at Hangzhou has so far been that of a relaxing, calming experience with the beautiful West Lake surroundings just a stones throw away.

My patience was tested a little today when it was time to book my ticket to Shenzhen (where I will eventually move on to Hong Kong).

Unfortunately the hostel didn't provide a booking system, and there was no local travel agent to provide the service either. Therefore it was down to me to visit the train stations ticket office in person.

The queues were about 50 people deep and there were literally 25 different queues. Now I'm no Carol Vordimen, but that makes 1,250 people in one confined space with no air conditioning.

To add to my wonderful afternoon, a tramp wouldn't leave me alone, begging for money. After about 20 "no's" she spat on the floor in front of me (as if that's going to change my mind!!)

She eventually moved on and my next worry was how little English the attendant was going to speak (at this point my Chinese consists of "Hello", "beer", "how much is it" and "thank you". Now this was never going to get me a train ticket so I was well prepared and I had the common sense to ask the Hostel receptionist translate what I wanted on a piece of paper (smart move).

I now have a train ticket to Shenzhen, departing tomorrow at 14:00, taking 16 hours. I'll need to charge my iPod & psp to the max!

My stay in Hangzhou was short and very sweat! Apparently West Lake is the second most popular Chinese hot spot behind the Great Wall, so it was well worth passing by.

I now prepare myself for the highly expensive Hong Kong before I spend 3 months in South East Asia.