HANGZHOU is not only a city of elegance, the West Lake and the Grand Canal of China. It's also a region of natural wonders and a place to experience nature at her most glorious - and her most tranquil.
After enjoying the frenetic Expo and frenetic Shanghai, visitors can relax in the countryside around nearby Hangzhou and explore the beauty of Zhejiang Province.
There's the world-famous high tide of the Qiantang River - this year it's on September 22-25 - rafting and boating on the Shuangxi, Fuchun and Xin'an rivers, hiking in forests and subtropical gardens of Tianmu Hill, visiting caverns and exploring Longmen Ancient Town.
Tidal bore
Xiaoshan District
Watching the world-famous tidal bore of the Qiantang River in Xiaoshan is an annual event. This is the world's largest tidal river bore and the surging, thundering tide can be as high as nine meters, moving at nearly 10 meters per second.
The spectacular event is expected from September 22 to 25 this year.
As the river rushes to the East Sea in the Hangzhou Bay, the best places to witness the tidal bore include Xiaoshan District in Hangzhou and Haining City in Zhejiang Province.
When the tides come, the water and sky appear to be linked together, and sight of the extraordinary surging tide is caused by the gravitational pull of the stars and planets as well as the river's trumpet-shaped mouth. It's easy for the tide to come in, but difficult to ebb, so huge rolling walls of water are built up.
Since the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220), it has been a custom to watch the tides, and the great tidal bore is said to be the birthday of the god of waves.
Today there is an annual tide-watching festival filled with entertainment and folk culture. It takes place around the Mid-Autumn Festival, on the 18th day of the eighth lunar month.
Rafting
Yuhang District
Bamboo rafts drift along the Shuangxi River, flowing through dark green bamboo forests, tea plantations and hilly landscapes that extend for kilometers. There are rugged mountains in the distance.
Shuangxi Bamboo Forest Rafting, which is usually available from March to November, is famous and the water is very clear and pure. Visitors can watch wild ducks and fish and even swim in some places.
Shuangxi is not only about rafting. Visitors can also enjoy sports like swimming and volleyball, ride in cattle carts, kick back in the countryside and enjoy country cooking.
Hiking
Tianmu Hill, Lin'an City
This is a nature reserve with huge trees in an ancient forest in a central subtropical zone. Tianmu Hill is called "nature's botanic garden" because more than 2,000 plant species grow there.
It is famous for ancient cedars, and pines, maples and ginkgo grow throughout the reserve of 4,200 hectares.
The wild ginkgo of the Mesozoic era is known as a living fossil; there are China firs with a diameter of more than two meters, the gold coin pine (pseudclarix amabilis) that rises 56 meters, and the Tianmu ironwood that grows only there.
Several hundred animal and bird species find home there, including 30 endangered species such as the cloud leopard and black muntjac (barking deer).
Tianmu Hill has a long history of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism and is well-known for its Buddhist culture.
Transport: Take bus No. 152 to Western Bus Station, transfer to Hangzhou-Lin'an Line, then bus No. 2 to the New North Station, and then take bus No. 8 to Meijia Village.
Boating
Fuchun River, Tonglu
The Fuchun River, a tributary of the Qiantang River, flows through green and luxuriant hills offering many quiet and beautiful attractions.
Stretching 110 kilometers, the river is one of the three most famous river-sightseeing routes in China, including the Three Gorges and the Li River in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Sites include Tongjun Mountain (the Mountain of Old Man Tong). Yan Ziling's Fishing Platform and the Yaolin Wonderland.
Where the Fuchun flows past the town of Tonglu, the water is so clear that pebbles at the bottom are clearly visible. Where it converges with Tianmu Stream, magnificent Tongjun Mountain rises abruptly.
Sailing against the current, boats reach the Seven Li Rapids and shortly after Yan Ziling's Fishing Platform, two huge rocks rise from the water.
It is said that during the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220), when Yan Ziling was too proud to accept an official post from the emperor, he sought refuge in the mountains fishing here.
Nearby Yaolin Wonderland contains a massive cavern filled with stalactite formations in a kaleidoscope of color. Nearby in the karst landscape are waterfalls and more streams.
Boating, hiking
Xin'an River, Jiande City
The river rising from Anhui Province joins the Qiantang River at Jiande City and finally empties into Hangzhou Bay.
The upstream section is pure and along the river are ancient villages and beautiful fields where hiking is very popular.
The temperature difference between the river water and the air causes the formation of a mystical fog, sometimes as heavy as a sea of clouds, sometimes as light as silk.
The more rapidly the water flows, the more the fog assumes surreal shapes; the greater the temperature difference, the denser the fog.
Nearby is the Xin'an River Dam, one of the largest in China.
Longmen ancient town, Fuyang
Fuyang City, dating back 2,000 years, is just 40 kilometers from Hangzhou and is famous for paper-making. It's a beautiful town of tranquility.
Nearby at Longmen Mountain is the biggest waterfall in the Hangzhou area, its white cascades contrasting with the lush greenery.
This was the home of Sun Quan (AD 182-252), founder of the Wu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms Period (AD 220-280). A hero of the time, Sun is famous for his honesty in handling state affairs.
The town lies on the southern bank of the Fuchun River, and its name, Longmen, literally means dragon gate. An ancient Chinese scholar once praised the scenery, saying it looked like the great Gate of the Dragon because it was so beautiful.
About 90 percent of the 7,000 residents are surnamed Sun, all Sun Quan's descendants.
The architecture is some of the best preserved of its kind in the Yangtze River Delta. The Sun family developed a distinctive design for residences - a main hall in the center, surrounded by rooms for family members. Each compound is a family branch unit with the central main hall as the memorial hall for the ancestors.
Each residence is connected by covered corridors or zigzagging cobbled pathways. A local saying goes: "If you visit your neighbors on a rainy day, you won't get your shoes wet."
The town contains pagodas, halls, gate towers and temples from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, some very ornate.
After the scourges of conflict, around 30 ancient buildings remain intact - the most outstanding is Yuqing Hall in the southwest part of the town.