Our 2.5D3N Itinerary in Hangzhou🤯

Let me start off with, 2.5 Days is not enough to explore what Hangzhou has to offer! We'll definitely be back again.

Find the links to XHS posts for each of the places we've been to:

XHS Guides to Hangzhou

Moving on to our itinerary🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

ACCOMMODATIONS:

Marinepoem Hotel

• booked on Trip.com

• Pretty decent and small. Our friends 3-bed room lacked ventilation with no windows which caused a cigarette smell - so maybe not if you are particular

• Walkable from Wu Lin Street, and around 1 station from Xi Lake.

• Convenience store and food options nearby

DAY ONE:

1. Xixi National Wetland Park (西溪湿地)

🚝Nearest Station: 花坞站 (Hua Wu Station) > 西溪湿地文三西路入口 (xi xi shi di wen san xi lu entrance)

✨I unfortunately did not go, I went to meet my friend at the Xi Lake instead. But based on my friends who went around the free area

• Half day is kind of rush but depends on your walking speed or if you like resting along the way

• Great chill place with a lot of forage

• Recommend to pack light and check the weather

2. Xi Lake (西湖)

🚝Nearest Station: 龙翔桥 (Longxiangqiao Station) > 湖滨 (hu bin) area

✨If you are not much of a nature person, I would highly recommend Xi Lake over Xixi Wetlands.

• If you want to explore everything around the lake, one full day will probably be required as it is uber huge.

• There are also boat options with varying prices that bring you out into the lake, cutting across, or just to take solo pics in the lake (Big ferries, manual rowboats, even canoes for rent)

• We didn't get to walk around much cause my friends met me late but from the patch that we walked along from in77 malls to Wulin Street, it was a vibe.

• There is a lot of shopping malls (in77a b c d, etc.) around the exit of Longqiao Bridge Station so there are always food options around. A lot of popular global brand outlets like Uniqlo, Sephora etc. Also local brands like Popmart, 52Toys, Florasis, Ha Cha Fu. You should also cater even more time if you intend to shop around.

• My local friend brought me to 花厨 (Tomacado) where their window seats offer a view facing the Xi Lake. The food was also amazing but you would be facing prices like at least 100rmb/pax (Still cheaper than SG cafes)

3. Wulin Night Market (武林夜市):

🚝Nearest Station: 凤起路站 (Feng Qi Lu Station) exit E

• This was like a craft fair as the stalls didn't really sell food. You can get unique local trinkets as souvenirs, but just don't fall for tourist traps like my friend.

• There was a lot of people along the entrance and exit to the night market, but if you walk inwards, the larger pathway makes shopping around .

• Eateries already exist along the street so you have a lot of options from just your regular coffeeshop kind, to affordable restaurants. Best part is that they are all indoors

• We wanted to book 新白鹿 (xin bai lu) for dinner which my local friend recommended but the queue was ridiculously long so we settled for something else 🙃

DAY TWO:

1A. Feilai Peak (飞来峰):

🚎Bus Line: 灵隐专线 (Ling Yin Line) - Recommend to take at the earlier stops because we saw a lot of people unable to get on nearer to Xi Lake.

✨Technically this was the park that contains Lingyin Temple, so you have to enter here first

• The main viewpoint would be the statues carved into the walls

• Along the peak, there were stairs up so we thought to climb. ONE, the stairs are uneven so it's really not easy to climb especially with children/elderly. TWO, there was nothing to see on the peak. But it is quite an adventurous path if you are into hiking(?)

• There are other Temples within Fei Lai Peak but we wanted to go Faxi Temple so we skipped it. You can follow the map to look around

1B. Lingyin Temple (灵隐寺)

✨Tickets for the Lingyin Temple are separate from Fei Lai Peak so remember to also buy this.

• You can get joss sticks to pray but if you can't hold joss sticks, its okay too:)

• There are a few halls to pray in, if I remember, there was a huge Buddha statue but also some Gods familiar in the Taoism realm.

• I think the statues are really a sight to behold in all the temples.

• For those unfamiliar: There are lamps dedicated to light your joss sticks. Stick it upright into the incense ash in the large holder. I saw a lot of people throw it in like rubbish causing large fires.

2. Faxi Temple (法喜寺)

✨Really recommend seeing Faxi Temple for yourself. Locals say its really effective to pray for your love life here💕

🚐We took the tram bus (10rmb) from outside of Fei Lai Peak, near the convenience stores. This is highly recommended cause it is quite a journey up by foot.

• There is this particular photo spot which you have to queue for but it wasn't a ridiculous queue when I went that sunday (see in pic 6)

• Likewise, there are a lot of halls along the way with different Gods where you can pay respects to. Maybe because I've prayed to these gods since young, seeing the statues in the scale that they were in, was quite mind-blowing.

3. Nan Song Yu Jie (南宋御街)

🚝Nearest Station: 定安站 (Ding An Station) exit D

✨We initially wanted to go for a full city walk (there is a link on my XHS guides) but there wasn't enough time so we got tea and milk tea from Ha Cha Fu (So good, got it 3 times) and walked from in77d to Nan Song Yu Street

• The lighting along the street at night and the weather made it so romantic to stroll through the entire stretch. In the day, there maybe more things to see though like going up the Drum Tower (You can see the dragon lighting in pic 7)

• There were a lot of shops along the street including souvenir stores, miniso, cat cafes, cafes, local stores, vintage thrift stores, book store etc.

DAY THREE:

1. National Tea Museum (中国茶叶博物馆)

🚗: Just Didi over

✨This was the common favourite amongst all 5 of us. Because its not as widely know, the whole place is really peaceful with not a lot of tourists.

• There are 2 parts to it, Long Jing, and Shuang Feng. Connected by a serene hiking trail.

• We only went to the Long Jing one but there was a lot to explore. There are a few museum exhibition halls sharing about tea around the world with air conditioning.

• The buildings are very much traditional buildings so everywhere is a good photo spot.

• If you go upwards, there is a teahouse where they carry different types of tea and the award winning Long Jing tea of the year (We got one type each to try). It comes with snacks and a milk pudding that day and we spent like 2 hours there. The next spot was shared by the teahouse owner

• If you love hiking, this is a good spot. The back of the site has a hiking trail sheltered by forage, leading you up to the peak which has a breathtaking view of the surrounding mountains, Xi Lake, and even the city parts of Hangzhou

2. Wan Xiang Hui Shopping Mall (万象汇商业):

🚝Nearest Station: 万象汇站 (Wan Xiang Hui Station)

This was the mall next to Hangzhou East Railway Station, where we were taking the high speed rail from.

• It's open air so it can get really hot in the summer

• There are really loads of food options though from haidilao, coucou to their local popular eateries.

• We ate at 绿茶餐厅 (Lü Cha Restaurant) which was the best thing we had in Hangzhou. The stir fried pork with green pepper, dongpo rou and even the general vegetables were so good. You must try the cheese tart (its stuffed with mash and ham, so good) If you want to try hangzhou local dishes, you can try this or 新白鹿 (xin bai lu) or 外婆家 (wai po jia)

This was it for Hangzhou, all in all, it felt a bit rushed and we would definitely go back again for all that we missed.

If you want to see the other cities I've been to:

•Xitang Ancient Water Town

•Shanghai

Also, link to essential apps for China:

Essentials Guide

#china #travelrecommendation #review

#storytime