Hangzhou: Your Ultimate Guide
Updated: Sep 19, 2023
All the things you should do to enjoy the tea fields and pagodas in the lovely lake-side city of Hangzhou!
Hangzhou is such a lovely combination of tea fields, good food, boat rides, quaint little villages, and a vibey city. It’s close enough to Shanghai that you can pop there for a weekend on the high-speed train (1-hour ride from Hongqiao Railway Station), and it's quaint enough to leave you feeling refreshed and rested, while still having access to a vibey city and a wide choice of restaurants.
How many days should I spend in Hangzhou?
Why should I visit Hangzhou?
How many days?
Doable in 1.5 to 2 days.
So, why visit?
Beautiful tea fields to explore
Great village-to-city-ratio (feel rested and like you’ve been away, but also have access to a huge selection of restaurants, bars, etc.)
Amazing green tea to sip on
Walk, boat, or cycle around a huge lake, surrounded by beautiful parks and pagodas
Beautiful and peaceful (during the week and not on national holidays) river-side walks
Best things to do
Explore the tea fields
There are a bunch of different tea field areas to explore in Hangzhou. All of them are absolutely stunning and worth a visit. My two favorite areas are:
Meijiawucun (Meijiawu villiage/town)
This area is lovely and is only about a 25-minute drive from Westlake.
The town is situated in the valley, with mountains of tea fields surrounding it – you can just walk up into the tea fields if you so choose. There are all sorts of restaurants, teashops, and teahouses in the area, where you can enjoy some tea and snacks overlooking the tea fields.
Longjincun (Longjin village/town)
This area is a 20-minute drive from Westlake and will feel like you are in a different world. The area is surrounded by tea fields, restaurants, and teashops. You can either take a walk along the road, or you can head up into the fields along the footpaths.
The Hugong Temple is in this area, so it’s a lovely idea to explore the tea fields and then head to the temple, where you can sip some tea in the peaceful gardens. You will be given tea leaves grown in the area, a large flask of hot water, and a range of snacks.
Visit the tea museum and enjoy green tea in beautiful Chinese gardens
I haven’t actually visited the tea museum itself (because... Covid), but the area itself is stunning - there is a lovely tea garden where you can sit under the trees and sip tea grown in the fields outside. Really lovely to read a book and just while away an afternoon.
Cycle, walk, or boat around Westlake
Westlake is a massive lake, bordered by Hangzhou city (on one side), as well as massive parks, gardens, pagodas, and tea fields.
It’s one of the must-visit areas in Hangzhou, and it’s a lovely place to walk around, hire a bike and cycle around, or catch a boat around.
I actually recommend doing all of these things during your Westlake exploration because they each give you a different perspective of the lake. The entire route around the lake provides beautiful views, but the ‘causeway’ between Quyuan Fenghe Beiting Temple and Hangzhou Su Dongpo Memorial Hall is a must.
Visit Lingyin Temple
The Lingyin Temple area is a large park, made up of different areas to explore. I recommend the area in and around Lingyin Temple. The Temple itself is a massive Buddhist temple, and the area surrounding it has hundreds of unique sculptures carved into the mountain.
I don’t recommend walking along the path up the hill in the center of the park. Many people follow this path as a form of pilgrimage hike, but the final ‘view spot’ has no view and only a large vending machine at the center.
If possible, head here during the week - it gets insanely busy over weekends.
Eat some amazing foods
Hangzhou is packed with many many restaurants - both local and international. While in Hangzhou, you must try some of the amazing foods that are specific to the tea field region.
Best areas to stay
It really depends on what you are looking for. If you’re looking for the convenience and food of a city, then aim to stay around/near Westlake’s eastern bank. From there, you’ll easily be able to access the lake, and the city, plus pop into the tea fields, and easily get to hikes, etc.
If you’re looking for more of a relaxing stay, I suggest heading a bit further away (about 15 to 20 minutes from Westlake in the direction of the tea fields. The small villages called Yangmeilingcun and Huihuitang (right next to each other) are lovely, peaceful, and relaxing, but still close enough to walk to restaurants or get a taxi to the areas to see.
Getting there
Getting to Hangzhou is very easy, with trains running to either Hangzhou East or Hangzhou Railway Station every 15 minutes. The ride takes between 1 to 1.5 hours (ish). Getting from Hangzhou Railway Station to Westlake will take you about 10-15 minutes by taxi, whereas Hangzhou East Railway Station will likely need about 30-45 minutes.
Getting around
The best way to get around is probably by taxis, but again this depends on what you are looking to do. If you’re popping between tea fields, scenic spots, Westlake, etc., then a taxi is the best bet. But if you’re aiming to just spend time around Westlake and the city center, then cycling, walking, and even the metro should probably be your go-to options.
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