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June 4, 2014

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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

‘Heavenly’ Hangzhou: A 15-day experience

By Xu Wenwen and Fang Wei | June 4, 2014, Wednesday | Print Edition

A question many tourists ask before they go: How many days should I stay and where should I visit? Those who intend to travel to Hangzhou, the “heavenly and magnificent” city as Marco Polo described it, can turn to a new tourism ambassador for help.

That would be a 26-year-old Swiss named Liam Bates, who is working part time to promote the city, earning a 40,000-euro (US$54,750) salary in the process. He was selected from thousands of candidates and officially employed weeks ago.

His free 15-day trip to Hangzhou recently finished and he is now touring Yangzhou and Suzhou in Jiangsu Province — just like Marco Polo did about 700 years ago.

Bates planned his itinerary in Hangzhou in consultation with the local government. It included not only sightseeing but visiting craftsmen, cooking with a Hangzhou family and studying kung fu. He even participated in a comic performance with local actors. The young Swiss man speaks flawless Chinese, studied martial arts as a teenager, has directed and written documentary films, won both the first and eloquence prizes in the Chinese Bridge language contest in 2010, and is a television host running a tourism program in Beijing.

“Unlike Beijing, Hangzhou is young and leisurely, and is a better place for young people,” said Bates who has been based in Beijing for years.

Of course Bates also sampled various Hangzhou cuisines. The most impressive meal for him is one featuring tea — sauteed shrimp with tea, glue pudding with tea, and fish covered with green tea and black tea sauce. He also enjoyed making dumplings with a local family.

Bates has posted some pictures of this trip on Facebook, Twitter and weibo, but he thinks that is far from enough to promote the city.

“I will show people the special and interesting aspects of Hangzhou through texts, pictures and videos,” he said. “Maybe in October, a Swiss television station will come to Hangzhou and film it.”

Before Swiss television comes to film the city, Shanghai Daily offers readers Bates’ touring route in Hangzhou. Few tourists will actually spend 15 days there, but seeing what Bates did offers a panoply of things to see and do.

Day 1:

Morning: Ride public bicycle around West Lake, and tour Leifeng Pagoda, which has a panoramic view of the lake.

Afternoon: Tour Hefang Street, a commercial antique-look street, and on the street visit Hu Xueyan’s former residence (Hu was a well-known businessman in the Qing Dynasty), Zhu Bingren’s Bronze Sculpture Museum and have a cup of tea at Tai Chi Tea House, which requires waiters to pour tea from a pot with a spout over 1 meter long.

Day 2:

Morning: Study tai chi at Rouzhiji Center of Tai Chi on Xiaohezhi Street, an antique and traditional folk street.

Afternoon: Visit Grand Canal Museum.

Day 3:

Morning: Visit three museums (all about traditional crafts like making umbrellas and scissors) on Qiaoxizhi Street.

Afternoon: Take the ferry at Gongchen Bridge Dock and get off at Xinyifang Dock to visit Xiangji Temple. Have a cup of coffee at the nearby Fuyicang Cafe, which is built from a century-old granary.

Day 4:

Morning: Visit Hangzhou Zoo to see pandas.

Afternoon: Go to Xixi Wetland Slow-Life Block, enjoy some coffee and take a boat on Xixi Wetland. On the boat one can fish and have a meal.

Day 5:

Morning: Go to the east side of West Lake (on Nanshan Road) and practice tai chi with folk kung fu teams there. Then have breakfast at Zhiweiguan Restaurant, a century-old eatery, then take a boat ride on West Lake. Also visit the Lesser Yingzhou Island and Three Pools Mirroring the Moon on the Lake.

Afternoon: Climb the mountains around West Lake.

Evening: Watch “Impression of West Lake,” a spectacular sight-and-sound performance by dancers on a stage embedded in the lake.

Day 6:

Morning: DIY pottery pieces at the Southern Song Dynasty Guan Kiln Museum.

Noon: Study cooking at Hangzhou Cuisine Museum.

Afternoon: Visit Xiling Seal Society and learn seal cutting.

Day 7:

Bates organized the day by himself for relaxation.

Day 8:

Morning: Go to Chenghuang Pavilion (an antique building which is also Hangzhou Museum), then visit Dujingsheng tapestry factory.

Afternoon: Go to Wangxingji Fan Park to DIY a fan

Evening: Join a local family at their home and learn to make dumplings with them.

Day 9:

Learn to make a Chinese garment at Jiang’s cheongsam shop.

Day 10:

Morning: Visit Lingyin Temple, one of the country’s most famous Buddhist temples, and go to Amanfayun (a high-end resort themed with natural lifestyle) to appreciate Zen tea ceremony.

Afternoon: Tour Xihu Tiandi and visit the Starbucks that is dubbed one of the most beautiful Starbucks in the world.

Evening: Have an herbal cuisine at Guangxingtang traditional Chinese medical clinic/restaurant.

Day 11:

Morning: Go to the China National Tea Museum and spend some time studying how to pick and dry tea leaves.

Afternoon: Tour Liuhe Pagoda.

Evening: Go to Lin’an, a county of Hangzhou, known for its rocky hills and lofty trees.

Day 12:

Hiking on Lin’an’s hills, sample Lin’an bamboo dishes, and study a tea ceremony at Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University.

Day 13:

Tour Qiandao Lake and visit Qinchuan Village nearby, a countryside retreat that has preserved the traditional sericulture (raising of silkworms).

Day 14:

Go fishing on Qiandao Lake. Eat a fish feast.

Day 15:

Tour Tangqi Antique Town in Yuhang District.

Tip: In the likely event that 15 days is not possible for you, it is suggested that your trip cover the content of Day 1, Day 5 and Day 10, for the most classical sites in the city.

Hangzhou


 

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