On November 16, President Xi announced in Antalya that China would host the 2016 G20 Summit in Hangzhou. He extended an invitation to leaders around the world: “Hangzhou is picturesque, truly a paradise on earth. It is a city rich in history and culture as well as one brimming with innovation and vitality. I believe the 2016 Summit will showcase a unique charm where history and reality converge. Next September, I will welcome you all by the shores of West Lake.”
Take a trip to Hangzhou before the G20 International Summit begins. Hangzhou is far more than just the shimmering West Lake — there are so many other places worth exploring in detail.
A city with two UNESCO World Heritage Sites Hangzhou isn’t just about West Lake
Every first-time visitor to Hangzhou must take a stroll around West Lake. After marveling at how “West Lake shimmers bright on a sunny day” and “looks perfect whether lightly adorned or richly made up,” if you wonder, “What else is there to Hangzhou besides West Lake?” then you’re quite naive. West Lake is so famous that it almost overshadows everything else in the city. It’s the iconic symbol when people mention Hangzhou. But beyond West Lake, there are plenty of other fun spots, such as another world-class treasure — the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.
On June 22 of last year, in Doha, Qatar, the executive chair of the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee announced: The application for the Grand Canal of China was successful. Hangzhou now has another World Heritage Site, in addition to West Lake.
If West Lake lives on in the spiritual world of the Chinese as a cultural image, then the Grand Canal is very much alive in tangible, everyday life. Hangzhou is the starting and ending point of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and the canal scenic area is now a very popular destination in the city.
If you come to visit, Gongchen Bridge area is your top choice — it’s considered the essence of canal culture. You can stroll through the classic old-style neighborhoods; browse the bookstore of Nanpai Sanshu; along the way, you might even bump into elderly locals selling sweet rice wine in small southern-style pottery jars; on the west side of the bridge, there’s the Handicrafts Living Museum and the Fan Culture Museum, and further south you’ll find the Umbrella Museum and the Knife, Scissors & Sword Museum; pick a teahouse along the canal, and you could easily spend an entire afternoon there. There are still many lesser-known spots along the Hangzhou section of the heritage-listed canal, aside from Gongchen Bridge, including Xiangfu Bridge, Tangqi Guangji Bridge, Fengshan Gate, Xixing, and Yangguan, all waiting for you to explore one by one.
Marathons, cycling, paragliding... Hangzhou offers lots of modern new ways to have fun
Hangzhou not only boasts heavenly scenery but also many emerging and modern activities.
Some say there are only two things to do in Hangzhou: visit West Lake and run the Hangzhou Marathon. Dubbed “China’s most beautiful marathon route,” the Hangzhou Marathon attracts runners from all over the world every year. Enjoy the autumn leaves by West Lake, listen to the waves of the Qiantang River, and feel the serenity on Hupao Road... Finishing the full course is like experiencing a 360-degree tour of Hangzhou.
For sports enthusiasts, another incredibly beautiful activity is cycling around Qiandao Lake. Even before the Qiandao Lake Greenway was fully built, many cyclists came here to ride joyfully on gravel roads. Last year, the 140-kilometer-long greenway was completed, attracting even more riders. There are many places to rent bikes in Qiandao Lake, with varying prices, or you can rent a public bicycle. The greenway has cycling stations along the entire route that offer free tea and allow you to get certified stamps for each checkpoint — stamp your booklet at every stop, and once you’ve finished the ride, flipping through the booklet will give you a great sense of achievement. With clear blue waters on one side and green mountains on the other, this kind of cycling scenery is extremely rare in China. Experienced cyclists recommend stopping at the Meifeng Viewing Platform on the Qianfen Line — once you get there, be sure to pause and take in the view: from the high vantage point, you’ll see over 300 green islands scattered across the vast lake.
For something even more thrilling, try paragliding in Fuyang, Hangzhou. Put on a huge “pair of wings,” take off from a mountain peak over a thousand meters high, and watch as a picturesque rural landscape slowly unfolds before your eyes. The tandem paragliding experience is great for regular tourists, costing 560 yuan per flight (380 yuan on non-weekends and holidays).
Stay in a stylish Hangzhou homestay and a wave of luxury hotels is under construction
Hangzhou doesn’t lack good places to stay, ranging from quaint little homestays to ultra-luxurious boutique hotels — definitely able to meet the demanding needs of all travelers.
The quantity and refinement of Hangzhou’s homestays are among the best in China. Many visitors come from afar specifically to stay amid mountains and rivers, tea plantations, or next to temples.
Mingtang, Liuhu Xiaozhu, Hefang, Qingting, and others are favorite youth hostels among backpackers. All located in the urban area, they bring together people from all over who gather together — maybe your next travel buddy starts here.
If youth hostels offer an atmosphere, boutique homestays deliver an emotional experience. Qichi in Yangmeiling, Mitao Courtyard in Bailiaoqiao, and Shanshe in Mangjuelong... These design-oriented boutique homestays in Hangzhou, with only a few rooms each and tucked away in the corners of tourist areas, have been featured in numerous magazines. They let you discover another facet of Hangzhou’s beauty.
You definitely need to book in advance, and if you want to stay during weekends or holidays, reserving half a year ahead isn’t an exaggeration. This year, the Hangzhou Homestay Network (http://www.hzminsu.cn/) launched, making bookings very convenient.
If you prefer the luxury route, Hangzhou can satisfy even the most discerning tastes.
Aman Hotels has only 19 branches globally, and only two in China — one of which is Hangzhou’s Amanfayun, nestled between the West Lake and the Lingyin Valley. Despite having opened in January 2010 three years ago, the number of “Amaniacs” from around the world hasn’t decreased at all.
Jiuli Yunsong Hotel is hidden among embracing mountains and waters, surrounded by fresh tea plantations, lush pine trees, and cherry blossom trees, just steps away from the thousand-year-old temple Lingyin. The path connecting the hotel and the temple is lined with pine trees on both sides, stretching hundreds of meters — this is also the origin of the name “Jiuli Song” (Nine-li Pines).
In addition to long-established brands like Shangri-La, Hyatt, and Four Seasons, upcoming arrivals in Hangzhou include hotel groups such as Jumeirah, MGM, and Fairmont.
Foreigners come to West Lake to see Zhang Yimou’s show Young people party at the West Lake Music Festival
A Korean friend came to Hangzhou for one reason only: to see Zhang Yimou’s Impression West Lake — she’s a huge fan of his.
Since its trial performance in 2007, Impression West Lake has been running for eight years, and to this day, it still enjoys excellent reviews. Visiting daytime West Lake on the first day and watching the night performance of Impression West Lake has become a fixed itinerary for most tourists.
As the music plays and lights sweep across the lake surface, also illuminating the pavilions and bridges in the distance, dozens of performers emerge from the water — instantly drawing you into the story. Five acts — “Love,” “Meeting,” “Parting,” “Reminiscence,” and “Impression” — unfold like a romantic epic, with emotions shifting subtly, and the dislocation of time and space seemingly frozen in a single moment of encounter, taking you into a poetic dream.
Hangzhou is also home to one of China’s three major music festivals — the West Lake Music Festival, which has been held for ten consecutive years. Every May, tens of thousands of young people from around the world flock here, gathering on the lawns by West Lake to celebrate music.
Commercial complexes built within Jiangnan-style buildings Young people love going to malls without roofs
There are so many great places to shop in Hangzhou that no matter where you are in the city, you can always find a commercial complex to explore for the whole day.
Last year, Asia’s largest Apple flagship store opened in downtown Hangzhou, and Apple CEO Tim Cook’s Weibo cover photo to this day is still of the Apple West Lake Store. Right next to the Apple store is a unique commercial complex called in77. Unlike conventional department stores, In77 gathers a multitude of trendy brands loved by young people, along with celebrity stores from personalities like Han Han, Huang Xiaoming, and Mayday.
Another favorite shopping spot for young people in Hangzhou is Queen’s Park. Some call it the “mall without a roof,” located next to Wulin Women’s Fashion Street, featuring nothing but brands favored by the younger crowd.
If you’re into fast fashion, a visit to Lixing Luxury is a must. For luxury and high-end shopping, there are also Hangzhou Tower, MixC World, and Hubin Boutique Street.
Go see the transformed old factories – the city's creativity is all here.
The city’s abandoned factory buildings, with their towering chimneys, weathered brick walls, and spacious warehouses, have been given new life by the times. Whimsical imagination has turned them into some of the city’s most unique spots. In Hangzhou, there are plenty of creative parks full of artistic flair where you can take a mini-trip—enjoy food, drinks, lodging, transportation, and even view excellent art exhibitions.
LOFT49
LOFT49 covers an area of 52 acres and is a renowned art hub in Hangzhou, as well as Zhejiang’s first LOFT creative community. It was formerly the Hangzhou Nylon Spinning Mill and has now transformed into a haven for artists. The site retains old factory equipment such as pumps, pipelines, and hoppers, retaining traces of the industrial era. Items like vintage fans and gramophones have become new trends. Here, even taking a moment to enjoy a cup of coffee might lead to an encounter with an artistically inclined passerby.
Silk Union 166
East of the canal, north of Daguan Road, and on Lishui Road lies the former Hangzhou Silk Mill, once the leader of the silk industry in Hangzhou and even across China—but that was back in the last century. Today, of the original 32-hectare factory grounds, only about half remains as a silk weaving plant (the original weaving workshops), while the rest has been repurposed: half into various residential developments, and the other half into the now-popular “Silk Union 166 Creative Industry Park.”
The “Peach” café is filled with artsy youths, and Jiatiji has sourced countless charming antique furnishings from Southeast Asia. Designer product stores showcase a variety of creative items, and a studio called “Golden Branch” displays familiar 1980s items like white sneakers, printed handkerchiefs, aluminum lunchboxes, tape recorders, and tin thermoses. Designers, photographers, advertisers, and musicians have come together to collectively transform this once-forgotten old factory area into one of Hangzhou’s hottest fashion landmarks today.
Hechuang Park
The most popular creative park in Hangzhou recently is Dongxin Hechuang Park at No. 139 Liuhe Road. With the continuous arrival of creative professionals and designers, the old factory buildings have begun a new chapter.
At the entrance of the Kingdom Peach Restaurant, a white Volkswagen Beetle sits under the shade of trees—this photo went viral online, and many young people come here just to see the real thing while enjoying a meal. Hugo Xugu Design Hotel is a designer hotel with eight uniquely themed rooms, including a botanical room, furniture room, and tea ware room. Yiqiao General Store is the offline physical store of Zhongzhong, founder of the handmade vintage brand “Annual Rings Park,” reviving the beauty of handmade goods and selling retro handmade products. Yuanbai Exhibition Hall is a space dedicated to showcasing artifacts, featuring tea ware designed by the curator as well as curated selections of designer tableware from Japan. Regular small exhibitions are also held.
Innovation Park
If your idol is Jack Ma and you want to experience internet-era Hangzhou, you can also check out the city’s many innovation parks. Alibaba, Dream Town, Yunqi Town, Haichuang Park… Wandering through these campuses, you’ll be surrounded by young people talking about “big data,” “cloud storage,” and “cloud computing”—a truly fresh experience. Who knows, the person walking past you could be the next Jack Ma.
What’s so great about Hangzhou?
It has free WiFi all over the city.
To “give the lake back to the people,” Hangzhou removed the walls along the West Lake, allowing every resident and visitor to enjoy the lake for free. At the same time, Hangzhou was also the first city in the country to offer free public WiFi.
Hangzhou’s wireless WiFi coverage includes urban roads, neighborhoods, scenic areas, squares, bus stops, as well as public spaces like administrative services and transportation hubs, with densely populated areas like the West Lake scenic zone, commercial districts, and civic squares being key open zones.
Simply search for “i-hangzhou” within the wireless network range, enter your mobile number in the user login area on the page, and click “Get Password via SMS.” Next, just input the password to access free WiFi. If you’ve set up automatic WiFi connection, it will connect automatically once you enter an “i-hangzhou” zone.
It’s one of the best cities in the world for public bicycles.
Every day, over 300,000 Hangzhou residents and tourists use the first-hour-free public bicycles to commute or tour West Lake. Hangzhou was the first city in China to launch a public bicycle transportation system and was named by the BBC Travel Channel as “one of the world’s 8 best cities for public bicycle services.” In 2013, the U.S. media site “Time Out” ranked Hangzhou’s public bike system as the best among 16 global systems. Currently, Hangzhou’s public bikes see over 448,600 rentals daily, with cumulative rentals reaching 602 million over seven years.
Its library is hailed as “the warmest library.”
Hangzhou boasts top-tier libraries—even some of the oldest, smallest ones offer ample book lending, ubiquitous free WiFi, thoughtful lighting design, precise book location systems, practical power outlets, convenient self-service borrowing and returning, clear functional zoning…
Since 2003, the Hangzhou Library has offered completely free access to all readers, making it the first in the country to do so. For over ten years, it has also allowed homeless individuals and scavengers to read inside, with the only requirement being that they wash their hands before reading—earning it the nickname “the warmest library in history.” Hangzhou also plans to establish at least 10 24-hour libraries.
Drivers yield to pedestrians at crosswalks.
In August this year, a post on Shanghai’s biggest local forum KDS (Broadband Community) went viral. Posted by user “Zhongke Yuanchuang hm2002” on August 1st, titled “The Legend of Hangzhou Drivers Yielding to Pedestrians”: After testing at several intersections in Jianggan and Shangcheng districts, it’s true—cars really do stop for pedestrians. It felt magical—could this be China?
In many countries, it’s rare to see vehicles yielding to pedestrians at crosswalks, but when walking the streets of Hangzhou, you can calmly cross busy roads. After experiencing the chaos of cars speeding through intersections in so many other cities, it’s impossible not to be moved by this small detail in Hangzhou.
Buses have not only “priority seats” but also “compassion seats.”
Most city buses have “priority seats,” but Hangzhou buses go a step further with “compassion seats.” If you take Bus No. 16 in Hangzhou, you’ll see two orange seats “waiting patiently” right opposite the exit door. Next to the seats is a prominent sign labeled “Compassion Seat,” which reads: Please “reserve” this seat for passengers who need it most.