Hangzhou Things to Do

Yue Fei was a loyalty general to his emperor. Hangzhou people built the temple by the bank of the West Lake to worship and pay respect to Yue Fei. In the compound there are QingKuai ( bad and evil person ) husband and wife kneeling statues in the cage, Chinese who knew the story would sometime spitting to them.

The Xihu park is a very beautiful and big area to tour, but due to the over crowded of local visitors, we can only do a quick tour on board of the boat which is pre arrange in our tour package. The local souvenir traders moved quickly to surround us soon we arrived. As we are in a group tour, we have to obey the tour leader's guide and time and to move in a group in a crowded place. We have limited time and space for good picture, Chinese people are so many.

Hu XueYan ( 1823-1885 ) was an ancient business tycoon in Hangzhou. He giant house with many rooms was built with wood with no nail. Built up area is 5815 square metre, with many fine carve on fine wood and stone. Hangzhou Tourism Board has preserved this site to be tourist attraction.

Leifeng Pagoda is one of the most famous attractions in Xihu. This Pagoda can be easily seen from different parts of Xihu because it is a huge building built on a hill side. This is a reconstruction building from an ancient pagoda built in 975 AD by King Qian Chu of Wuyue to celebrate the birthday of his son.

I am more interested the views from this 5 stories tall Pagoda. You can see the beautiful scenery of Three Pools Mirroring the Moon, Sudi Causeway, the whole Xihu Lake.

In Chinese: 雷峰夕照

If you are looking for night life as shopping district, dinning, spa, and etc. Wulin District is the perfect location to do that. It is away from Xihu. You can take bus 28 from Xihu, or Taxi costs you around Y15.

If you prefer to stay away from Xihu, this area might be an alternative. Plenty of nice hotels.

When I was there, the metro was under construction.

In Chinese: 武林

Okay, I'm absolutely enamoured with this simple meal of a bowl of freshly pulled noodles, garnished with thinly sliced beef or lamb and Chinese coriander and parsley, in hot, piping soup...

YUM!!!

La Zhou La Mian is a chain of small noodle shops that are Halal as they are run by the Muslim Chinese. You can find this chain in Shanghai and Hainan as well... didn't look for it when I was in Beijing and Suzhou the last time... but it's here in Hangzhou too.

For just about 5 yuan a bowl (plus or minus a yuan, depending on the location), this is a superb bowl of noodles that will fill your tummy with all it's delicious goodness.

I first tasted this in Shanghai in Jan 2007 and have never forgotten it -- after all, when I first tried this, it was in cold winter... :) A bowl always reminds me of the beautiful time I had in winter in Shanghai...

La Mian (hand-pulled noodles) is just amazing as they are freshly made and pulled out of a lump of dough on the spot, making the noodles extra springy in texture.

Hope you find it just as delightful! :)

A relaxing and fun activity to take a boat ride that's paddled across the lake by a boatman.

The boat can sit up to 4 - 6 pax (depending on your size) and it's an idyllic way to spend some time to enjoy the view and the weather.

There are also boats you can rent to paddle yourself, but I think having a relaxing ride in the boat is more enjoyable :)

There are super big ferries but these tend to be very crowded -- especially during Peak travel periods... when I was there in Apr, it was very crowded with lots of mainland tourists visitng Hangzhou as well in large tour groups!

This is the best attraction because it's just magical how they transform a portion of the lake into a fantastical stage!

Enjoy the dramatic show featuring a universal story-line of love lost and gained in a number of short vignettes, each as stunning and impressive as the other.

I was there in April and the weather was still chilly in the evening -- you will be seated along the bank of the West Lake and you will have a full view of the 'stage'.

It's an amazing combination of musical, lights and water -- jazzed up to complement compelling stories...

I super recommend this as I found it such a beautiful and innovative use of technology to bring the West Lake to a new level of entertainment.

(p.s. I heard that the one in Guilin (Liu San Jie) is better, but have not seen it yet...)

TIPS of becoming successful.

Right in front of West Lake is a whole bunch of flatty squarry, boxy-like buildings. When you walk closer you can see products made of animal skins, to my understanding they are called leatherware products of handbags, wallets, shoes and so on. These are imported products coming from somewhere far far away, Europe.

OK now listen you basterds! Quickly walk into one of these shops to buy at least a handbag, a wallet and a pair of shoes, and you gotta make sure you pay RMB20000.00 or more for each items, take my advice seriously and I only say once!

Once you obtained these products, make sure you put it on your body, wear it, carry it all the time, and also make sure you show to whosoever stares at you.

Confucius(551-479 B.C) is a great philosopher, thinker, educator and worshiped by Chinese scholars and literates over 2000 years. His temple could be seen at many cities in China. Hangzhou Confucian Temple is located at a quiet street only a few steps away from the West Lake.

Pinhu Autumn Moon is located as a small island north of Xihu. You can go to the Island by the broken bridge or Duanqiao, then Jindai Bridge. In the Island, you can visit several attractions including:

1) Zhongshan Park
2) Gushan Park
3) Zhejiang Museum
4) Zhejiang West Lake Art Gallery

In Chinese:平湖秋月

Changqiao means long bridge in Chinese. The bridge makes it easy for you to walk along the lake with good views. In other words, instead of walking on the street, you can walk on the bridge to make you feel like you are in the middle of the lake. And the bridge is very low, less than one feet from the water.

In Chinese: 长桥

Sudi Causeway is a connection between North and South of Xihu bypass the busy street of Yanggongdi Road. Walking along the causeway, you can see beautiful Xihu scenery like Ruan Gong Islet, Three Pools mirroring the moon, Leifeng Pagoda, and etc.

The whole causeway is a park, benches everywhere. You can seat down to enjoy the views and have a deep breath of the fresh air.

Warning: It is a 2.8km walk. Once you decided to walk, you have to walk until the end to reach the other direction. No other short cut.

In Chinese: 蘇堤春曉

West Lake is a famous area to see Lotus in China. Lotus starts to bloom in early June, and will last till late August or early September. Yue Lake has an example of the Lotus beauty in West Lake. The Chinese called this scene as " Curved Yard and Lotus Pool ". It was a rainy and cloudy day when I was visiting Yue Lake. The great part is that I could see the West Lake with this misty weather as painted in Chinese painting. The downside is I could not take good picture with the weather, and I worried my camera would get wet.

In Chinese: (曲院風荷)

This is the most romantic and green place I have been to in China! A must do. Most people miss this part of China because their tour doesn't go there, what a bummer that would be! Get informed and ask if you do take a tour, a place that is magical.