HANGZHOU is in the Zhejiang region southwest of Shanghai about 170kms, between 2h-2h30 by road.

To go to Hangzhou I took the train from Shanghai station (HongQia) and it cost me 77.50 Yuan (about 10 euros)

If you don’t have much time to visit Hangzhou there are 2 places you absolutely must visit, but for that you will need at least 2 days to be able to appreciate the serenity of these 2 places.

The first is the WEST LAKE and the second is the LINGYIN SI temple.

Where to stay in Hangzhou

Personally, I stayed at the XINQIAO hotel in Hangzou, about 1.5km from the lake, so well placed.

XINQIAO HÔTEL HANGZHOU (hangzhouhotel.org)

West Lake

This lake is absolutely beautiful and very interesting, there are many temples, pagodas, gardens, natural and artificial islands.

While walking around the shores of the lake you can see local people practicing their daily activities, playing music, dancing, fishing, doing tai chi and even playing mahjong, it’s a game of chinese dominoes.

The natural island of GUSHAN is the largest of the natural islands and there are 3 artificial islands which are, xiaoyingzhou, huixin (with a very beautiful pavilion and ruan gongoun in the middle of the lake.

On the lake you can also rent barges.  

South of the lake there is the LEIFENG pagoda, a must visit, the entrance is 40 Yuan (a little more than 5 euros) free for children under 1m20.

Beware of the opening hours, they change according to the time of year, the sale of tickets stops 1 hour before closing.

The Leifeng pagoda

The pagoda was destroyed during the invasion of Hangzhou by pirates between 1522 and 1566, the tower was burned down for fear that there would still be soldiers, and it was restored from the year 2000 and completed in 2002.

When you arrive at the entrance you first see the remaining foundations.

The dome is absolutely magnificent, there are no less than 2002 small shrines.

From the top of the pagoda the view of the West lake is superb and you can also see the JINGCI temple.

The Lingyin si temple

The temple is located west of the lake, about 1km away and very easy to access.

The entrance ticket is 30 yuan (4 euros)

The rock where the Buddhas are carved is 600m long and 200m wide, they are carved directly into the rock, there are 153 shrines with more than 470 sculptures, all this is really impressive.

The oldest sculptures date from the TAN dynasty (between 618 and 907).

There are also 2 temples, 1 monastery and also tea plantations.