Ask This River: Photos from Hangzhou

The countdown is on: five days until the big move to Nanjing! In the meantime, I'm here in Hangzhou, one of China's two "Heavens on Earth," helping out with a summer program in Traditional Chinese Medicine. I'm learning a lot--for instance, did you know that suction-cupping can expel heat evils from the body, and that the whites of your eyes are related to the health of your lungs? (I paid special attention to these items, living as I currently do under the hot poisonous cloud that envelops urban China in the summertime...)
Hangzhou is really lovely; the famous West Lake is ringed by low green hills, and delicious Dragon Well tea grows on the hillside terraces.
My friend Scott came out for a visit last weekend, and is also setting up a welcome BBQ for my first night in Nanjing. Then he, along with 8/9ths of the other teachers from last year (yeah, Benny, staying on for year 2!) are returning to America, and a fresh batch of teachers will arrive on the 29th. I can't wait to meet them! But I will miss my good friends.
Below is my first experiment in photo-uploading.

Scotty making sweet love to a dongpo rou (nugget of slow-cooked pork fat, a Hangzhou delicacy) while a yellow egg watches in amazement