Top 10 Hangzhou Discoveries So Far

I've now been in Hangzhou for a couple of months and I've found some really cool places, so I thought I'd share what I've found here.


10. Impressions West Lake // 印象西湖

One evening, while walking around West Lake at night, we caught a glimpse of this show and decided we had to go. It's basically this music, dance, and light show that happens on the lake. They built a stage just under the water, so it looks like they are dancing on water. It objectively was very cheesy and over-the-top, but I had a really great time. It was one of the most spectacular shows I've ever seen. It's sort of a Chinese version of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. For the price I wouldn't really recommend it, but I'm glad we went. It was certainly a very Chinese experience.

9. International Food Festival

The international students were very excited to find an international food festival just as we had been here about a month. We got to have REAL BREAD. And Mexican food. Real (not-Chinese) alcohol! It was very exciting. We all ate too much, but it was 100% worth it. I think this is an annual thing, so if you're in Hangzhou in October, I would check it out.

8. The Most Beautiful Bookstore - 钟书阁

I found out from a friend who was studying abroad here last year that there was a really cool bookstore opening in Hangzhou. It is the best-designed bookstore I have ever seen. We had a really good time looking around, and I even found a bilingual book, which I talked about in my October monthly review.

7. Hefang Street Market // 河坊街

I found this market because it's right across the street from the police station where you apply for residence permits and whatnot in Hangzhou. I've been there twice now and it's the best market I've been to in Hangzhou. They have all the touristy souvenirs you could ever want. It's a good place to buy postcards, fans, qipaos, etc. I also got a really nice ceramic incense burner there.

6. Night Lights

I've never lived in a proper city (i.e. a city with more than half a million people), so living in a city with a population similar to London or New York is pretty intense. One of the benefits of living in a city is being able to walk around and night and see cool lights and buildings. I would argue that Hangzhou is even more beautiful at night, because even the parks are really well lit at night. I also really like the building in the picture above - it's one of my favorite buildings in Hangzhou.

5. Baochu Hill // 保俶山

Incidentally, this one I discovered at night, but that was not intentional. I went up Baochu hill with some friends late one evening on a whim and I'm so glad I did. I imagine it's quite busy in the day, but at nine or ten in the evening, there's practically no one there. They actually turn off the lights at about 10, so it can be kind of hard to find the path with no light. We did have a pretty cool discovery after the lights went out. There was a couple taking wedding photos on the ridge that looks over West Lake and the city. It was pretty cool, so I creeped on their photo shoot.

4. Xixi Wetlands // 西溪温地

One sunny weekend day, Louisa and I cycled to the Xixi Wetlands, which is a massive "natural" area/park. It's about a 15-minute cycle ride from my campus, so it's really convenient. There are temples, lakes, restaurants, gift shops, absolutely deserted areas - pretty much whatever you could want. I hope to go back soon to explore some more! We spent about 4 hours walking around and probably only saw a third of it.

3. Lingyin Temple // 灵隐寺

Lingyin Temple is probably the most famous temple in Hangzhou, so my friend and I got there before 7am to explore before there were too many tourists and to see people actually going to the temple for religious reasons. We were successful and we heard monks chanting and saw lots of people praying. Once again, we walked around for about 3 hours and didn't see everything in the park, so I will have to go back!

2. Hiking through Tea Plantations

One of the best days I've had in Hangzhou so far was a hike with a friend through the West Lake Scenic Area. We walked over 12 miles/20 km up and down mountains. We got some really great views, but the best park was when we got this amazing view of 龙井村 (Longjin village) and the surrounding tea fields. On our way down the mountain, we got to walk through the tea fields, passing people picking the tea leaves. Then we stopped in the village and got a cup of tea, which was probably grown in the valley we had just walked through.

1. West Lake Sunset

This is one of the first things I did when I got to Hangzhou and it's still one of my favorites. I love going to West Lake for sunset. I've done it lots of times now, even though it means dealing with rush hour traffic. It's definitely worth it. There are so many different views and places on West Lake, so going to different areas feel really different. I'm sure every guide to Hangzhou will tell you to go to West Lake, and I agree. It's touristy, but still really nice. Also relatively quiet and green, considering it's in the middle of Hangzhou.

Thanks for reading - Cat