An Independence Day Dinner and Fireworks

Later that same evening we went to a hotel on the shore of West Lake to have a Fourth of July dinner together with many Chinese students. This was by far our most fancy dinner of the trip, and it was one that was very much enjoyed. All of the program participants were joined by the local Chinese students that will be with us on this Sunday to take us around Hangzhou in small groups. It was an amazing dinner buffet with all kinds of foods ranging from roast duck to sushi to salad to roast beef to spinach mashed potatoes to a huge dessert bar with many types of great ice cream (including green tea ice cream!). This great meal was aided by a nice view of West Lake, and by the very nice Chinese students that joined us at each table. It was fun to talk with them because their English was so good. It also allowed us to practice a little Chinese as well. After several hours of dinner we caught a cab back to our hotel and watched a movie in the room. We were interrupted however halfway through by fireworks outside. It was a pretty good display, and while I don’t think it was for our Independence Day, we decided to treat the display as such. The picture below is of me, our Chinese friend Ariel, Jessica, and Jose at dinner.