Hangzhou

---

---

Hangzhou (pronounced Huan-Joe) is another tourist hotspot just out of Shanghai. I went there with Em and her parents, Doug and Cheryl.

The main attraction in Hangzhou is the massive lake right in the centre of town - the city was basically contructed around the Lake.

From Shanghais mega massive Hongqiao railway station (it is like an airport rather than a railway station) it is only a short 300km/hr bullet train away.

Luckily for us the weather was really good, so we started the day by taking a river cruise on the lake to take in the city and landscape. It is a really great area surrounded by peaks and pagodas.

We went to this little island on the lake for a walk around to take in the scenery. Apparently the area was frequented by a lot of emperors in the past.

After our cruise we had a nice Chinese lunch on the lake side. We then decided to try to make it to this Buddhist temple up on the hills beside the lake. Unfortunately after a while trying to get a taxi we had to abort that idea so went for a walk around the town eventually reaching this neat little market street.

It was still nice so we decided to explore the surrounding streets and stumbled upon this cool lane which had a little stream down the side of the cobbles. I dont think these sort of places make it into the guidebooks, even though they are really interesting, proof that the best way to explore a city is just to go for a wander!

So that was our short little trip to the neat little town of Hangzhou, a nice city with (one more) more of a Chinese feel to it that Shanghai - but as is becoming fairly obvious from travelling out of Shanghai, there isnt much Chinese about it!

---

Photos

Panorama
The Lake and Huangzhou