Hangzhou was the capital of the southern Song Dynasty between 1138 and 1276, and was also noted by Marco Polo as being the most magnificent and prosperous city he had ever encountered, far surpassing anything in Europe at the time. Hangzhou is home to a couple of Unesco World Heritage Sights, most notably The West Lake, natural wetlands and tea plantations. We were only here for less than 24 hours and got to explore the canal and the West Lake, however I would loved to have spent time exploring the other side of the lake and into the mountains which have a number of pagoda’s and temples. I wouldn’t recommend the side of the lake closest to the city as its just full of tourists, chain shops and souvenir stalls.
Hotel
Xizili Art Hotel
The hotel wasn’t the most centrally located and the metro ran north/south instead of over by the West Lake, however the hotel was lovely and super spacious. I booked a family room, so I had a bed downstairs and Lucy had one upstairs. Bikes are super cheap in China, so you can pick up a bike outside the hotel and cycle where ever you need go. Taxi’s are also very very cheap, however you are sitting in traffic for so long its not worth it.
Food & Drink
Thin Egg Pancakes: Similar to the pancakes of Shanghai, these were much thinner and crispier. We walked quite a bit from our hotel to get here, and I’ve no idea what it’s called, but I believe it was at Zhejiang (it was a little red store front), close to the Bao taproom we found. This was delish and worth a visit (if you can find it).
Bao: After our pancakes, we continued walking and came across this small Bao Taproom where we decided to take a break. I got a Jasmine Sea Salt beer which was surprisingly delish. I also got a pork Bao Bun, which after 10 minutes hadn’t arrived, but a man in a moped drove past and threw a bag of meat at the waiter – and a couple of mins later my Bao bun arrived.
Grandma’s Home: This seems like a chain restaurant of Chinese food for westerners, but we were quite hungry so decided to just sit here and order as much food as possible. We got dumplings, veg dishes, rice dishes and noodles. The food here was lovely and I avoided anything with any form of intestines or organs.
SeeSee Crepes: We went on a cycle to get away from the overly touristic West Lake, and spotted this little place. We got a creme brulee crepe, that although was a years supply of sugar, it was amazing.
Donghe Taproom: When looking for somewhere to have a drink in the evening, I spotted good reviews for this taproom. It was full when we arrived, so we got a beer and sat out on the street people watching. It was a great spot for watching locals enjoying their evening and seeing all the food at the local food stalls.
The Sights
The West Lake: You can’t really come to Hangzhou and not see the West Lake. It is stunning, and surrounded mainly by mountains. There are a number of bridges and walkways going across the lake to various islands. We mainly stayed by the park beside the city, which was just full of tourists and didn’t get to experience the other side of the lake where the walkways and islands are.
Boat Tour: As we were walking along the lake we decided to do a boat tour, and it was very much our own fault but we didn’t research it, just hopped on a boat. It ended up being an hour of a wait once we were on it before it left, and it went down around the islands and returned. We were hoping it would drop us the other side, so we can explore where all the main sights are but it wasn’t to be!
Donghe River: One of the first places we explored was the walkway along the canal/river in Hangzhou. We walked from our hotel, and passed lots of people out exercizing or playing table tennis by the water. We crossed a bridge and it brought us to a row of coffee shops along the water, where we sat down for a bit and enjoyed our time people watching (and dog watching!).
Cycling: Before we left for our train, we didn’t have enough time to explore the other side of the lake, and I wasn’t a fan of how touristy the West Lake was, so we got a bike and just cycled. We went towards a cocktail bar I wanted to visit but it was closed. However, we did get to explore other streets, find little shops and get to try out the crepes from a store we spotted along the route. I’m a much bigger fan of getting on a bike and just cycling the being in a pack of tourists crammed into a location.
I had quite a bit here I wanted to explore but as we didn’t look properly at the boat we just jumped on, I didn’t get the chance to as that took up a lot of our time!
- Sudi road walk across the West Lake
- Yue Fei Temple
- Baoishi Mountain
- Jindai Bridge
- Leifeng Pagoda
The Cocktail Tourist 