Hangzhou

For more than a thousand years, Chinese poets and painters have measured beauty against Hangzhou. The old saying goes, "Above there is heaven; below there are Suzhou and Hangzhou" (上有天堂,下有苏杭). Capital of the Southern Song dynasty and the city Marco Polo reportedly called the finest and noblest in the world, Hangzhou today pairs that classical romance with a relaxed, green, modern metropolis, home to tech giant Alibaba and host of the 2016 G20 summit and the 2023 Asian Games. Best of all, it sits barely an hour from Shanghai by high-speed train, making it one of China's easiest and most rewarding short trips. A former silk- and tea-trading powerhouse, Hangzhou wears its long history lightly, in lakeside pavilions, teahouses and temple gardens rather than in a checklist of monuments.

West Lake, the soul of the city

Everything in Hangzhou orbits West Lake (Xi Hu), a UNESCO World Heritage landscape of shimmering water, arched stone bridges, willow-draped causeways, and mist-wrapped hills. Remarkably, it is completely free to enter, in 2002 Hangzhou tore down the fences and gave the lake back to the public, the first major scenic area in China to do so.

Walk or cycle the Su Causeway and Bai Causeway, slender green ribbons of willows and peach trees that cross the water. Take a wooden boat to the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon, watch the sun drop behind Leifeng Pagoda, and pause at the Broken Bridge, the romantic setting of the beloved Legend of the White Snake. Photographers chase the classic "Ten Scenes of West Lake," each framing the lake in a different season and light, lotus blooms in summer, sweet osmanthus and red maples in autumn. Come at dawn or golden hour, when locals practise tai chi and dance along the shore. Hire a bike to loop the whole shoreline, or glide between the islands on one of the electric sightseeing boats.

Beyond the lake: temples, canals and old streets

A short ride west, Lingyin Temple (Temple of the Soul's Retreat) is one of China's largest and most revered Buddhist monasteries, founded more than 1,600 years ago and set against Feilai Peak, whose limestone cliffs are studded with hundreds of carved Buddhas. (Since December 2025, the surrounding Feilai Peak scenic area is free to enter, though Lingyin Temple itself still charges a separate, modest admission; you need a free reservation made a day ahead through the official "Lingyin–Feilai Peak" mini-program on Alipay or WeChat.)

Back in town, the Grand Canal, the world's longest and oldest man-made waterway, and another UNESCO site, reaches its southern end here; the restored Gongchen Bridge quarter glows at dusk. For a taste of old Hangzhou, browse the snack stalls, silk shops and traditional pharmacies of Hefang Street, or trade the crowds for the reedy channels and egrets of Xixi National Wetland Park on the city's western edge.

Longjing tea, the world in a cup

Hangzhou is the home of Longjing (Dragon Well) tea, the most famous green tea in China. In the hills southwest of the lake, villages such as Longjing and Meijiawu nestle among terraced tea gardens where you can watch leaves being hand-fired in iron woks and sip a cup straight from the source. The prized "pre-Qingming" harvest, picked in early spring, is the most fragrant of all.

Best time to visit

Spring (March–May) and autumn (September–November) are the best seasons: mild, colourful, and made for slow days by the water; late October to November is especially reliable for clear skies. Avoid the national-holiday peaks (the first week of October and Lunar New Year), when the lake is shoulder to shoulder. One stretch worth planning around: late June into July brings the Jiangnan region's "plum rain" (梅雨) season, when West Lake's famous mist turns into genuinely persistent humidity and showers.

Where to stay

Most first-time visitors base themselves on the lake's east shore around Hubin, walking distance from the water and a strip of malls, restaurants and bars that gets going after dark. Wulin Square, a short metro ride north, is Hangzhou's main shopping and transit hub, sitting on the interchange between Metro Lines 1 and 3, a practical, usually cheaper alternative if you don't mind a 10-minute ride in to the lake. Qianjiang New Town, the riverside skyscraper CBD about 5 km southeast of the lake, is well connected but has little to do with the classic Hangzhou most visitors come for. See our where to stay in China guide for booking basics.

Getting to Hangzhou and around

By train: high-speed trains from Shanghai take about an hour (with more than 260 services a day) to Hangzhou East or Hangzhou West stations, and the city also connects to Suzhou, Nanjing and beyond.

By air: Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (HGH) has a modest but growing set of direct international routes (Gulf carriers, a handful of seasonal flights from Europe and North America), so most travellers from further afield still connect through Shanghai, Beijing or another major hub, then finish the trip by train or a short domestic flight. If your passport is on China's unilateral visa-free list, or you're transiting onward within 240 hours, Hangzhou Xiaoshan is a recognised port of entry for both, though the eligible-country lists have been revised more than once and don't cover every nationality (the US, for one, currently sits outside the unilateral scheme). Check our China visa-free guide before you book anything.

Getting around: the metro, a dozen lines and growing, covers the city centre and reaches Xiaoshan Airport directly; once you've linked a foreign card to Alipay or WeChat Pay, you can tap in with their transit QR code instead of buying a physical card. Bike-share stations are everywhere and mostly unlock the same way, though the odd operator still insists on a Chinese phone number, so don't count on it if you're in a rush. Much of West Lake itself is best covered on foot or by e-boat rather than by road. Many people visit on a day trip from Shanghai, but staying overnight lets you see the lake at dawn and after dark, when Leifeng Pagoda and the causeways are softly lit.