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Hangzhou tourists offered good deal during G20
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TOURIST attractions around Hangzhou and in Anhui Province are luring local residents with zero admission or ticket discounts during the first week of September as the city hosts the G20 summit.
Hangzhou will have a seven-day holiday to relieve traffic congestion and yield roads to motorcades of foreign leaders from G20 countries and an army of journalists from around the world.
If you have a Hangzhou Citizen Card, you can visit the Yellow Mountain scenic area in Anhui for free. Fifty-five tourist attractions, including heritage villages of Hongcun and Xidi.
Xinchang County in Zhejiang, known for its scenic hiking trails in mountains, will offer 50 percent ticket discount for people from Hangzhou between August 26 and September 6.
The Qiandao Lake in Chun’an County normally charges 150 yuan (US$22) per person but will charge only 40 yuan from August 20 to September 10.
Yellow Mountain scenic area
The Yellow Mountain, pronounced Huangshan in Chinese, is a UNESCO World Heritage site famous for its abrupt peaks, grotesque pine trees, sea of clouds and hot springs. It was so named because the legendary Yellow Emperor, the ancestor of all Chinese, once stayed there. Xu Xiake, a Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) explorer and geographer, climbed the mountain twice and wrote: “You don’t need to see any more mountains after climbing Huangshan.”
The must-see places in the Yellow Mountain scenic area include Tunxi Old Street, Xidi Village and Hongcun Village. Some people choose to see one village because the two are quite alike and each charges more than 100 yuan per person. Since they offer free admission to Hangzhou residents, you’d better see both.
The villages feature Hui-style houses with black tiles and white walls. Xidi traces its history to the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). It still has more than 120 traditional courtyards and three family shrines dating from the Ming and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. Hongcun is a favorite of photographers and artists with idyllic settings of misty hills and houses veiled in a haze. Both were listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites in 2000.
Tunxi Old Street dates back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279). When Emperor Huizong moved the capital city to Lin’an (today’s Hangzhou) after the Jurchens occupied the northern part of China, many builders and craftsmen were drafted from Tunxi to build new palaces in Lin’an. After they came home, they built houses in imitation of palace buildings along the street. Today, the pedestrian street is lined with shops in centuries-old houses.
About 20 buses leave the Hangzhou West Bus Station for Tunxi, the old town at the foot of the Yellow Mountain, every day from 6:50am to 2:20pm.
If you prefer hiking to riding a cable car up to the Yellow Mountain, you can take a bus from Tunxi to Tangkou, the south gate to the mountain. The hike takes about five hours to reach the north gate on the other side of the mountain. You can return to the south gate via another route though.
Try to book a hotel near the end of your hike or a hotel on the mountain so as to see sunrise over cloud-wreathed peaks the next morning.
After climbing the mountain, you can tour Hongcun and Xidi. Both villages have nice hotels and family-run inns. Local authorities encourage them give discounts to tourists from Hangzhou between September 1 and 7, but check with them before booking your room.
Qiandao Lake
The Qiandao Lake, meaning Thousand Islands Lake in Chinese, is actually a vast reservoir formed when a hydropower dam was built on the Xin’an River in 1957. A total of 1,377 villages in Chun’an County were submerged and what used to be hilltops have become 1,078 islands.
The lake is famous for its unpolluted water. It is so clean that China’s largest mineral water company draws water directly from the lake.
The Qiandao Lake is now a popular summer retreat for people to go swimming, surfing or driving a water scooter. There are a dozen of five-star resort hotels around the lake.
It is a paradise for bike enthusiasts to cycle around the lake on a specially-built bike lane. You can rent a bike at many rental stations and there are plenty rest areas where you can have a bite and take in the lovely lake views.
The lake resort normally charges 150 yuan for admission. But from August 20 to September 10, Hangzhou residents and overseas-passport holders will be offered a discount price of 40 yuan. You are advised to book a hotel room weeks in advance.
Xinchang County
Xinchang is a great place for hiking because this county in Zhejiang Province has lush mountains, unspoiled creeks and a large Buddha statue carved in granite in the 4th century. The statue is inside a grotto and has withstood erosion in the elements.
The grotto is now part of the Big Buddha Temple. Visitors can spend some time there to shake off their worldly worries and invoke good karma in front of an amazing 15-meter-high sitting Buddha.
Other tourist spots in the area, such as Tianzhu Lake, Wozhou Lake, Shijiufeng (Nineteen Peaks), and Qipanxian Valley, also offer 50 percent discount for Hangzhou visitors from August 26 to September 6.
If you prefer to join a group tour, remember to give your passport to the travel agency for discount tickets.
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