Travel China and Beyond

Travel to Hangzhou - sites, shopping, places to see

I have travelled to Hangzhou on numerous occasions over the past 19 years.  My first trip there was in 1988 (while I was a student in Shanghai).  Friends of mine were studying in the Hangzhou Fine Arts Institute.  At that time the city was a very nice escape from the overcrowding and smog of Shanghai.  Plus you could not miss the beautiful hills and tea growing areas.

Over the years Hangzhou has changed as the rest of China.  It has grown and become modernized.

The famous sites remain pretty much the same though:

•  The West Lake — with many scenic pagodas and temples as well as the natural beauty of the surrounding hills  (I used to love the beer made in Hangzhou with the same name XiHu PiJiu)
• The Buddhist carvings at the Feilai Feng Caves
• Multiple Tea plantations

If you like Tea, Hangzhou is the place to enjoy fresh picked tea — the famous Long Jing (Dragon Well) variety of green tea.

In the early Spring (April timeframe) you can visit some of the small restaurants on the outskirts of Hangzhou in the hills and both have very nice dinner or lunch as well as enjoy some very aromatic tea and also see and smell the freshly picked tea.

At that time of the year you will find tea leaves drying in woven baskets everywhere infront of the houses in the hills.

Shopping related:
Tea -  You can also purchase the fresh green tea at a very reasonable prices — read Cheap…

 The famous Long Jing teas are:
  XiHu Long Jing
  Lion Xi Hu Long Jing
  Emperor Long Jing  / Emperor Lung Ching
Silk Umbrellas
  Hangzhou silk and Zhejiang Bamboo
  Hangzhou is also famous for silk — the other famous silk city in China is Suzhou.

Shopping street:
   Hubin street (near Hyatt)
   Qing Hefang Street   
   XuHu TianDi — a bar and restaurant / tea house street.  Does this remind you of the name sake in Shanghai ?
Some Museum sites:

• The China Tea Museum located in Shuangfeng, Longjing Road ,Hangzhou
• China Silk Museum (on bus number 38) - located at the bottom of YuHuang Hill near the West Lake.
• West Lake Museum — a nice place to relax and enjoy the scenery — located near XiHu Tiandi

Other places to visit:
  Chenghuang Temple
  Leifeng pagoda
  Dragon Well Village
  Su Causeway
  JingCi Temple
  Yue Temple

With regards to places to stay, here are some options:

• If you would like to be located at a really nice spot - near the West lake — essentially across the street from the paths around the lake — you should consider the Shangri-La hotel; Rates are around RMB1100
• The Radisson Plaza Hotel — also a nice one. Rates are in the range of RMB1000
• Hangzhou International Holiday Inn — you can get a nice room for about RMB600

In terms of getting to the city, you probably should consider travel via train to Shanghai. The train ride is very comfortable and relatively fast (make sure you get on an express train).  Otherwise if you are travelling by plane keep in mind that the airport is a good distance away from town and a taxi ride to the airport will run you around RMB120.

I have heard also about a new service of Air China.  If you are traveling via Air China and you need to get from Hangzhou to Pudong Int’l Airport you can use the Free Shuttle.  The bus leaves from Hangzhou Tourist Center and goes to Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

Well, this is a quick summary.  Enjoy your trip!