Hangzhou (杭州) is a beautiful historical city located in the eastern part of China’s Zhejiang province. Hangzhou’s West Lake area is widely regarded as a highly scenic zone and is a must visit if you are considering a trip to Hangzhou city. In fact, I visited Hangzhou for 2018’s new year celebrations and spent quite a few days wandering alone in this beautiful city. I will try to write a few posts from my China holidays to provide you a comprehensive Hangzhou city travel review. This post is dedicated to discuss some of the general observations about Hangzhou city (Zhejiang, China).
Cultural significance of Hangzhou
Hangzhou has a lot of cultural significance in China. For example, in traditional Chinese culture, there is a famous proverb, “上有天堂, 下有蘇杭”, meaning “there is a paradise above, and there are Suzhou and Hangzhou below” – a metaphorical comparison of these two city’s beauties with paradise.
Fortunately, I am living in Suzhou and got a wonderful opportunity to travel to Hangzhou.
Accommodation in Hangzhou China – Hangzhou west lake hotel
The area surrounding the West Lake is the city center of this provincial capital city. There are a variety of boarding and lodging options available for the upcoming Hangzhou dwellers. I was staying a bit far from the Hangzhou city center (it was some 10 subway stations away from the West Lake). I often had to come to the West Lake area to see the night lightings. The illuminations around the lakeside offer a great view of the city. So I’d recommend you staying near the scenic West Lake. You can use booking.com to find a good accommodation in Hangzhou (look for a Hangzhou West Lake hotel).
Suzhou to shanghai to Hangzhou (and Hangzhou to Shanghai to Suzhou)
I live in Suzhou and my train to Hangzhou was via Shanghai. In fact, there seems to be no other train route between these two cities (Suzhou to Hangzhou). That means, while returning I had to come via Shanghai again. Can you guess Suzhou- Hangzhou ticket fare? Well, it depends on what kind of train and seats you opt for. During peak seasons (such as new year), the train tickets are sold very fast. So the fares may be expensive.
In my case, I booked train tickets just a day before my trip when only a few seats were left. So while going from Suzhou to Hangzhou, I could only get a slow-speed train’s ticket, that too in a sitting car. The fare was RMB 40.5. It took nearly 3.5 hours to reach Hangzhou city. While returning I was in the bullet train, and the price was RMB 120, and it took nearly 2 hours (in the sitting car).
However, the experience in the bullet train was much better. For example, people smoke inside the train compartment of the slow-speed train (even though the compartment is air-conditioned). The whole Suzhou-Hangzhou journey turned out to be a smoky one.
While rerunning from Hangzhou city there was no smoking related issues. In fact, there were announcements that smoking was prohibited and the violators would be punished. So if you can afford to pay a higher fare, a journey by bullet train is recommended.
I used the trip.com mobile App to book the train tickets and made the payments using WeChat payment system. You can find these Apps in Google Play App store.
Suzhou and Hangzhou train stations
There are multiple stations in both Suzhou and Hangzhou. When I came to Hangzhou, my final station was Hangzhou Station. My return train was from Hangzhou East Station. Here are the train details:
- Suzhou to Hangzhou (Train Number Z175): Suzhou Railway Station (苏州站) to Hangzhou Railway Station (杭州火车站). Departure time: 2.36AM, Arrival time: 5.54AM. The Red Line Subway in Suzhou is directly connected to the Suzhou Railway Station.
- Hangzhou to Suzhou (Train Number G7372) – Hangzhou East Station (杭州东站) – Suzhou Railway Station (苏州站). Departure time: 8.11 AM, Arrival time: 10.06 AM.
Hangzhou subway station to/from Hangzhou City center
The subway is directly connected to the Hangzhou Railway Station and Hangzhou East for commuting to/from the downtown. So if you are coming to the Hangzhou city by train, you can consider using the subway.
Hangzhou city transport – subway and buses
There are currently three lines of the subway, and a variety of buses conveniently providing connectivity to the most parts of Hangzhou city. If you have to visit the West Lake area, you can get down either at Long Xiang Qiao (龙翔桥, lóng xiáng qiáo) or at Feng Qi Lu (凤起路, fèng qǐ lù). There are bicycles available across the city (free usage for first hour). You can find the bicycles near the bus stops.
Hangzhou city weather
Hangzhou is a highly touristic city and there are tourists flocking here all year round. Basically, you can visit Hangzhou any time. I visited Hangzhou in winter, and it was just awesome to be in Hangzhou in winter. I never felt tired walking in the city. Do bring your winter clothes if you are coming between November and February.
Hangzhou West Lake
A trip to Hangzhou city without visiting the scenic West Lake (西湖, Xī Hú) is just not a trip – you must visit the lake. Walking around the lake itself is refreshing. If you have time and interest, you can go for a boat ride. There are a few islands situated in the center of the lake. You can also see the three pillars that are printed on Chinese RMB 1 currency notes. The pillars are located in the west lake and you need a boat ride to see them from close. Since 2011, the West Lake cultural landscape has been listed in the UNESCO’s world heritage list. Totally justified!
Night markets
Like any other Chinese city, Hangzhou also offers you lots of delicious and authenticate Chinese food. There are quite a few good night markets in Hangzhou if you’d like to wander in the night time. Do try the Wushan Night Market (吴山夜市 – Wúshān yèshì), I’m confident that you won’t be disappointed.
AN Expensive city
Compared to Suzhou, I feel that Hangzhou is overall an expensive city. For example, when I buy a grilled eggplant (BBQ) in Suzhou, I pay RMB 8. But in Hangzhou it was RMB 20. I’d safely assume that Hangzhou is quite comparable to Shanghai in terms of cost of living.
Hangzhou temples and pagodas
Hangzhou is a cultural city and obviously there are so many temples and pagodas waiting for you to explore them. I’d recommend you visiting the Leifeng Pagoda (雷峰塔, Léi fēng tǎ), Six Harmonies Pagoda, (六和塔, Liùhé Tǎ), Lingyin Temple (灵隐寺, Língyǐn Sì), etc. If you are walking around West Lake, Zhejiang Provincial Museum is also worth stopping by.
Mountain climbing/hiking
If you like hiking, then you can go to the Klippe (飞来峰, Fēi lái fēng). The hiking trail is rather easy.
You can reach the peak after 15-20 minutes of slow walking. The food and drinks at the peak are slightly expensive (RMB 8 for a 300ml water bottle). Entry fee: RMB 40.
Hangzhou population
The population of Hangzhou is ~21 million, and obviously the city is usually crowded. Moreover, I was travelling on new year, so it was full of tourists.
Nevertheless, since I like crowd, it was overall ok for me. However, if you are planning your trip around the peak seasons, you may consider doing a rational assessment about the crowd situation. Btw, compared to Shanghai or Beijing, not too many foreigners in Hangzhou.
That’s all about Hangzhou city travel review in this post. You may want to check out my other articles about travelling in Hangzhou.
If you have any query about Hangzhou city or China holidays visa, feel free to post in our forum so that others could also contribute and learn. For regular updates like us on Facebook, or follow on Twitter!
Happy travelling in Hangzhou China!
If you find the Hangzhou city travel review or other write-ups useful, buy me a beer!
Cheers!
Last updated: Sunday, January 7, 2018