Poetic street great for trendy cafes, home-style food
Print Edition
If you let Hangzhou locals pick the road with the most poetic name, many would say Huansha Road. Huansha, “washing gauze” in classical Chinese, easily reminds people of beautiful girls wearing elegant Han-style clothing doing laundry by the river in ancient times.
The road was named after the former Huansha River, Hangzhou’s first canal, dug in the Sui Dynasty (AD 581-618), which set the basic layout of the city. During urban construction in the 1970s, the river was filled in and made into the present-day Huansha Road.
The road starts from Qingchun Road in the north and connects with Kaiyuan Road in the south. The segment between Kaiyuan Road and Xihu Avenue is called Ding’an Road.
At the crossroads of Huansha and Jiefang roads, there is a cluster of traditional Hangzhou residential buildings called Pingyuanli block, where the Western-style brick gate was engraved with the name in Chinese characters ƽԶÀï.
These two-story structures feature up-turned eaves and high brick walls, which lend a historic cast to Huansha Road. The block had grown shabby but it is being renovated, and soon will be restored to its original appearance.
Shanghai Daily takes a tour of poetic Huansha Road, and discovers two cafes and a restaurant.
Cafe Lumiere
This cafe can be easily missed because of roadside shade trees.
The front yard has tables and chairs so that people can sit outdoors and enjoy the street scene, weather permitting, over a cup of coffee or other beverage.
All the coffee sold here is freshly ground and the beans are imported from countries like Colombia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Yemen.
The decor is exquisite with ornaments like fans, photos and paintings hung on the walls. Customers can also use a computer, read from a selection of books and magazines, and peer into a telescope.
The price of a cup of coffee ranges from 38 yuan to 45 yuan. Some of the new books and porcelains on the shelves are for sale.
Address: 72-1 Kaiyuan Road, near Huansha Road
Tel: (0571) 8701-5326
Zao Feng Nian Jian
The name of the restaurant contains a Chinese character, Ôî (zao), which refers to the traditional Chinese cooking ranges used by farmers in rural areas. Crockery pots work well on zao, and are believed to make nutritional and tasty soup.
At the doorway of the restaurant some large crockery pots contain long-simmered chicken feet and pig legs braised in soy sauce heated on zao-shaped stoves. Both are very gelatinous and tasty and can be served to customers anytime.
The chicken feet cooked in crockery pots is the signature dish of the restaurant, and are considered the tastiest chicken feet in Hangzhou by netizens on Chinese review website www.dianping.com.
The soups served at the restaurant also draw wide praise, including kelp and pork rib soup, duck and pig tripe soup, cuttlefish and pork rib soup, mushroom and water chestnut soup, and chicken soup.
The soups are prepared according to the Chinese culinary custom of simmering a dish for a long time to condense the flavors. The soups are prepared in the morning and left simmering during the day so diners don’t have to worry about waiting.
Address: 126 Ding’an Road
Tel: (0571) 8708-0755
Greenpeach Cafe
The cafe is popular in Hangzhou by virtue of its elegant style combining stylish cushions, sofas, wooden tables and ornaments with historic knick-knacks.
Entering this cafe, customers could be forgiven for thinking they’d been transported to a vintage European villa. Fringed lamps, metal photograph frames with ornate swirls, oil paintings, an old typewriter and a vintage sewing machine set the tone.
Large boxes contain rows of tables and booths, which create another quirky touch.
The cafe serves tasty desserts and mellow coffee. The greenpeach coffee and durian cheesecake are recommended.
The cafe, located near West Lake, is a popular meeting place for blind dates and for singles hoping to meet Mr or Ms Right.
Address: 232 Xihu Avenue, near Ding’an Road
Tel: (0571) 8778-0365
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