China: Hangzhou, Wuzhen, ShangHai & Suzhou 5 Days 5 Nights Itinerary ( Part 1 - Hangzhou)

Hangzhou, the city blessed with natural landscape & location is a popular  destination that has attracted many. Despite many negative news and views about their people , I feel that china is still worth a visit.  & travelling has change my views on that.

" Everyone sins differently & who are we to judge them? " 

Anyway the main focus of our  trip was to explore Hangzhou. Well known for its scenery, Westlake, has won the heart of many. It was awarded as UNESCO World Heritage in 2011. Located in the Zhejiang Province, H & I decided to include other places such as Wuzhen, Shanghai & Suzhou.

As we were doing our research for this trip, i realise that there are limited information being shared in google. Thus we switch our research engine to China Baidu & it was definitely a good decision. We visited places that were highly recommended by travellers as well as path that are beaten off the track.

The only thing we didn't realize was accessibility to Google/Facebook. H had saved all the location in his phone and could not access to play store to download VPN in China. Thus before setting off to remember to save your map or download VPN if you want access to Facebook & google.

Hope the information helps! 

Hangzhou airport to city

We took a taxi from Xiaoshan International Airport Taxi Stand to Holiday Inn Hangzhou at Jian Guo Bei Lu and it cost us about 140 rmb and 40 minutes. 

Stayed in holiday Inn hangzhou for three night for $78 per night and i thought everything was fine except for its location. The king size bed is huge and comfortable but the toilets are old. Although the hotel does not provide complimentary wifi, the manger was nice to give us for free. 

I wouldn't recommend anyone to stay there if you want to travel to westlake. The location is out of the way. Although it is quite near to the railway station  but it takes about 30 - 40 minute to walk there . Plus that area is still under construction. 

Summary of the trip

Day 1: Grandma Place Restaurant - West lake Museum - Three Pools Mirroring the Moon
- Yue Fei Temple - Su Causeway (Su ti) - Hefang Street
Day 2: Wu Zhen
Day 3: Shanghai- Hai Di Lao - The Bund - Old Town
Day 4: Shanghai (Nanxiang Xiao long bao - Shanghai Musuem) - Suzhou (Guan Qian Jie)
Day 5: Suzhou ( Suzhou Museum- Humble Administrator's Musuem) - Hangzhou Xiao Shan Airport

Day 1: Grandma Place Restaurant - West lake Museum - Three Pools Mirroring the Moon
- Yue Fei Temple - Su Causeway (Su ti) - Hefang Street

Grandma Place

Grandma ( 外婆家）restaurant was recommended to us by a local friend. While I was doing research on food, Grandma Place was highly recommended by tripadvisor & the Baidu. We visited the outlet near Hangzhou railway station as it has lesser queue compare to the outlet at westlake. If you are hungry and do not want to queue, this is the place! 

Long Jing Xia Ren (龙井虾仁) / Dragon Well Tea Shrimp

Unlike traditional Chinese food which are full of flavours, Dragon Well Tea shrimp is the opposite. It is light and has a lingering fragrance of the tea. The shrimps are juicy and has the same texture as the prawns you found in Chinese dim sum. Definitely one of my favourite! 

外婆红烧肉/ Braise Pork 

H's favourite. He loves the braised pork. The meat was tender and juicy. Unlike others, the braise meat from Grandma was restaurant was not too oily. Also, the braise meat was cook with salted fish in the claypot, allowing the braise meat to have a rich flavour! 

酱鸭/ Braise Duck 

We ordered the braise duck & have it to be eaten warm. I would have it cold if H wasn't there. I love it! However I wouldn't recommend it to people who does not like to eat meat with lots of bones around as it can be quite difficult to enjoy the duck if you do not know how to eat it. The sauce of the duck was not overly salty and leaves a sweet taste at the end. 

I have forgotten the name but i wouldn't recommend you to even try to order is this. Although there were stars and thumbs up next to them in menu, you wouldn't want to pay money for the peas. It is a little pity that there are only 2 of us and we couldn't order more. Better luck next time! (:

城站广场8号铁道大厦17楼

Westlake Museum

To kick start exploring westlake, we decided to start our trail from Westlake museum. 

Westlake Museum gave us a good understanding of westlake and how we can navigate from there. The museum is located at the east of the lake. In order to get to west of westlake, there are several option to choose from. 

First, one can ride a bicycle around the lake, This method is highly recommended by travelers from trip advisor. Plus there are several bicycle kiosk that allows you to rent the bicycle. Second, the easy way out, is by taking a taxi/cab (30 minutes ride) from the museum to south west of the lake. 

Lastly, you can opt to take a trip to Xiao Ying Island to visit the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon/ San tang Ying yue pool by boat and alight at another side of lake after touring the place. You can find more information here

We choose the lateral one, the painted boat ( 55RMB includes fee to Xiaoying island)

Three Pools Mirroring the Moon/ San Tang Ying Yue Pool

San tang Ying yue pool is located in the middle of westlake, Xiao Ying Island. The pool used to be the one of the garden that the king would visit. In the small island, you can view the three pool mirroring the moon, where the reflection of the moon in the pool is said to be exceptionally beautiful during full moon.

We explore the area and took the boat to another part of west lake


Yang's Dumpling/ Xiao Yang Shen Jian

After exploring the westlake, we took a break at Yang's dumpling before heading to yue museum. There are a few restaurant chain located opposite Yue 's Museum & my favorite among all was Yang's Dumpling. Tried once and it has become my favorite local delight in hangzhou. I had the dumpling and it was so good that i wouldn't mind having 10 of it as my lunch!

Yue Fei Temple/ Yue Mausoleum

If you are familiar with the Chinese history, you will know about yue general & how he fought.  

"精忠报国 serve the country with the utmost loyalty " 

Su Causeway

We ended the westlake journey , taking a stroll at Su Causeway aka Su Ti. The view was gorgeous & i wouldn't mind doing this everyday. You see the couples taking their evening stroll, children riding bicycle and having picnic. #suchislife


Hefangstreet

Took a cab to Hefang street and spend our night in looking for food. Although lots of food street but nothing appealing caught our eyes and the street is design for tourist because most of the shop are repetitive. Nonetheless, H & I had a good night. 


Post on Wuzhen up next! (: