Renee, where to next?

Exploring the magnificent West Lake

Two cities in five days can seem like a seamless process during regular travel periods in China. However, during a holiday it means chaos, crowds and congestion. Nonetheless, we are always up for a challenge, and my travel partner and I were determined to finally tick Hangzhou off our list of cities to visit in China.

Hangzhou is the capital city of Zhejiang Province. With its main attractions being the enchanting West Lake, that has some of the most picturesque natural scenery. It is also one of China’s seven ancient capitals. The city is famous for tea and silk and I’ll definitely return to explore more of this city 48 hours was just not enough.

The city is about an hour away by fast train from Shanghai, so we made the quick trip and we we greeted by greenery. That’s one immediate, noticeable difference from Shanghai. There were trees everywhere. After checking into our hotel and relaxing a bit. We headed out to our first destination.

West Lake

West Lake is the most popular attraction in Hangzhou and is recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site. The area is vast and is a perfect day trip for families and individuals who like nature, picnics and sightseeing. It’s the perfect combo of nature, pagodas, temples and nature.

We took a taxi to the Lingyin Temple, which is located in the West Lake area. Unfortunately, we arrived just as the temple closed. We decided to explore West Lake instead. It was evening time just around sunset. Even though it was packed we were able to find areas with less people to explore. The lake has amazing views of the famous pagodas and different areas to eat, rest, or explore. The views were picturesque. It felt so calming to be there.

Across the street from the main West Lake attraction was a beautiful rose garden. It was just by chance we stumbled upon it as we were about to leave. Shihua Square covers about 55,000 square meters and has roses of all colors as well as water attractions. It’s free to explore for all.

Galleria

Day two and the final day in Hangzhou saw us visiting Galleria. Our train ride home was in the evening so we packed our bags checked out of our hotel and headed to explore.

Entrance fee was 20RMB (USD $3) per person, which you received as tickets that could be used to purchase various things from vendors inside. Galleria is built for photography, it has different areas designed for pictures and they even have examples of how to take pictures in each area.

It’s essentially a shopping mall designed for photography. And I loved it! Why? It was all pink! We entered and popped into a Tapas bar and left our bags and grabbed a bite at the Korean restaurant 1988. We ordered the Cheesy Shrimp Salad along with the star of the show the 88 Secret Barbecue and a drink. Total was 250RMB ( USD $36). I enjoy the barbecue thoroughly and was stuffed before we even could finish it. The portion size was more than enough for two and all the sauces it came with were great compliments to the pork leg.

The ambiance was just set up to look like a Korean street. With electric poles and even fake shops to create the look of a shopping street. I wish we really had more time to explore and enjoy all the different areas at Galleria.

We wrapped up the meal and headed out to explore the different areas and take pictures. They had a maze, a foam bit and one store even had a live Dj. It was even raining that day but we made the most of it and ended the day with some ice cream from one of the stalls on our way out to go catch our train.

Our train left from the Hangzhou East train station. The newest station in the city and also true furthest from almost everything. It took us over and hour to get there from Galleria and the DiDi fare was over 120RMB ( USD $17). Being that it was a holiday all the trains from the closer stations were booked. On the positive side the station was not congested and everything was new there.

I’ll definitely be returning to Hangzhou because 48 hours was definitely not enough. And one downside of our stay was our hotel was far from everything we wanted to do. Next time a better location is a must. Until next time let’s see where to next!