Why Hangzhou:
I was in Shanghai for 10 days to accompany Maisie on her work trip. While Shanghai has a lot to see, there are also numerous highly regarded day trips one can take from Shanghai. Having already visited Suzhou, I set my sights on Hangzhou, a city of 10 million people 176 km (110 miles) southwest of Shanghai via high-speed rail.
March 25, 2024: West Lake
Unlike Suzhou, trains to Hangzhou leave from Shanghai’s Hongqiao Railway station, the largest station in Shanghai that also happens to be attached to the domestic airport. With 30 tracks, is supposedly China’s third business train station and typically handles 210,000 passengers per day.
Like on my trip to Suzhou, I planned to purchase train tickets at the station. Unfortunately, the automated kiosks are off limits to foreigners and there was only two windows open. The guy in front of me just so happened to be buying many tickets for a group of 4 foreigners which took forever and the line at the other window was 6 people long. I did not feel comfortable giving up my spot to go to the back of the other line. After 30 minutes of waiting for just this guy, I had had enough and was able to find a ticket on the Trip.com app. FYI, always buy Chinese train tickets on the Trip.com app. Because of the delay purchasing the tickets, I was not going to arrive in Hangzhou until almost lunchtime.
After entering the MASSIVE departures hall containing 30 tracks, I boarded my train to Hangzhou. The journey took a zippy sixty minutes on the G class train to reach Hangzhou East Railway Station. Once there, I boarded the subway (which worked for foreigners without issue). 20 more minutes later, I had reached Hangzhou’s main attraction: West Lake (Xi Hu in Chinese).
West Lake, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is ringed with ancient temples, monasteries, and hills. It is featured on the 1 yuan note and is thought to be the single most popular tourist attraction in all of China. The best way to describe West Lake is a larger Epcot but if China was the only country featured and the buildings were real.
The most popular ways to get around are by boat or by tiny shuttle busses. However, I opted to walk around the lake. The journey would be 11 km (7 miles). Even though my legs hurt from the last two days of nonstop walking, I felt that walking was the only way I could ensure I got to visit what I wanted and not be rushed.
Before starting my loop around the lake, I wanted to get lunch. My guidebook recommended a restaurant called Green Tea which is located on the third floor of a luxury shopping mall. In the heavily themed restaurant, I ate local food which included shrimp noodles cooked tableside and some bok choi. It was delicious.
Next, I started to walk clockwise along the perfectly maintained and landscaped path. Despite being literally next to a city of 10 million people, I could not tell. It felt more a botanical garden but with food stalls every 400 meters. The food options were a combination of local options and Western chains like Haagen-Dazs and Costa Coffee. The pathway was busy but not overwhelmingly so. Every few minutes, I had to move out of the way of trams giving narrated tours in Chinese.
About an hour into the walk, I reached my first main landmark: the Leifeng Pagoda. This five-story pagoda was originally built in the year 975. However, it collapsed in an earthquake in 1924 and was replaced by a newer structure built in 2002.
After purchasing my ticket, I ascended an escalator up the hill to reach the pagoda.
The basement of the new pagoda contains the well-preserved foundation of the original.
The newer structure has a major advantage over the old pagoda: an elevator. I had to wait 15 minutes in line, but then I was whisked to the top. There, I was greeted with incredible views of the entire lake.
Back down on the ground, I walked across the street to visit the Buddhist temple across the street. While not as impressive as the temples in Shanghai or Suzhou, seeing the massive bronze seated Buddha was more than worth the 10-yuan entry fee.
Next, I continued up the southwest side of the lake along the Su Causeway, an artificial 2.8-kilometer causeway built in 1098 using 200,000 laborers. Even back then, China had an insane number of people and a powerful enough government to build these incredible public works. The causeway is close to two temple-covered artificial islands that are supposed to be beautiful but not beautiful enough for me to deal with boat logistics.
To the west of the causeway are rural forested mountains. They produce some of the most desired tea in all of China. With one more day, I most certainly would have visited the plantations and monasteries there.
Now on the northwest corner of the lake, I skipped over the tastefully-built shopping center to visit the tomb of Yue Fei, a legendary general from the 1100’s. He was famously executed by political rivals who framed him for murders he did not commit.
Yue Fei’s tomb was more of a complex and included a large entry hall that looked like a Buddhist temple except the center contained a statue of him.
Then there were a few buildings comprising a museum about Yue Fei’s life which had some English!
Finally, the tomb itself consisted of a large headstone engraved with his name not so different than a large Western-style grave. He is guarded by statues representing his ministers and various animals. At the far end of the courtyard are four kneeling statues representing those who framed him. Visitors of the past were encouraged to curse and spit at the statues.
Next, I crossed a small bridge onto Gushan Island, the only natural island in the lake. The southern half of Gushan Island contains numerous museums including a seal art museum, cultural relics museum and art museum. While I did not visit it, the northern half of the island has a park.
Finally, I walked back to my starting point on the lake! My legs were killing me. I celebrated with the local tea-flavored frozen yoghurt. While it had sugar, the flavor profile was bitter. I loved it!
I then purchased a train ticket back to Shanghai, hopped on the subway and got on the train back to Shanghai in time for dinner.
Final Thoughts:
West Lake is stupendous. Even though it feels polished and theme park-like, the history and authentic culture is still there. There is just so much to see! I rushed through it and it took me 4 hours, but I easily could have spent the entire day wandering the lake.
Hangzhou is definitely a two-day not a one-day city. With an extra day, I would have visited the forested hills to the west to see the tea plantations and the monasteries as well as the Liangzhu ancient town to the north. I regret not getting to spend the extra day here for the sights and the regional food.
Additionally, Hangzhou is a good base to explore the rest of Zhejiang province which appears to have cool stuff to see but would be way off the beaten path for a non-Chinese tourist. These sights include water towns, a sacred Buddhist island, and some mountains.
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