Houhai Lake

I went on a recce mission today to check out the hotel that Mum and Dad (LooseCanon and Technophobe to some of you) will be staying in when they come to visit us for a weekend in January. The hotel is really nice and is positioned in the middle of some peaceful hutongs near a huge lake called Houhai lake. One corner of the lake is quite touristy with pedal boats and swanky bars and restaurants crammed onto the street and that is where this photo is taken. On the whole though the lake is very peaceful and you don't feel like you are in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world at all.