28 October 2013

Top 5 things to do in Hangzhou, China


You probably haven't heard of Hangzhou, but it's one of China's most popular tourist destinations and it's only an hour by train from Shanghai. Here are five excellent things to see and do there.

West Lake
Hangzhou's biggest draw is an enormous weeping willow-fringed lake with the power to make you forget you're in a city of 6 million people. Take a boat ride across to Fairy Island, where you can wander pretty pathways, admire the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon and then hop over to the Sun Causeway, from where it's a short walk to the Leifeng Pagoda. 

View of West Lake and downtown Hangzhou from the Leifeng Pagoda

There are fantastic views over the lake and city from this five-storey tower, whose original dates back to 977 AD (though the recreation was opened in 2002). Hire a bike to cycle round the edge of the lake (a distance of around 15km), buy tickets to see Impression West Lake, a dance spectacular that takes place on a platform 3cm below the surface of the water, and drop by the downtown lakeside area at dusk to watch groups of locals ballroom dancing under the trees.

Lingyin Temple

One of the halls at Lingyin Temple, Hangzhou

One of the most important Buddhist temples in southern China, Lingyin Temple stands on the side of a wooded hill a short drive from downtown Hangzhou. To reach its numerous pagodas and halls, parts of which are 800 years old, you walk past the foot of another hill, known as the Flying Peak (Fei Lai Feng), home to dozens of ancient carvings of figures from Buddhist mythology. 

A carving of the Laughing Buddha on Flying Peak, near Lingyin Temple, Hangzhou
A carving of the Laughing Buddha on Flying Peak,
near Lingyin Temple, Hangzhou

Once in the temple complex itself, look out for the Skanda Buddha in the Hall of the Heavenly Kings – while much of Lingyin has been destroyed and rebuilt over the years, mostly as recently as the 1950s, this statue is an original from the Southern Song Dynasty (960-1279). Other highlights include an enormous statue of the Gautema Buddha, the founder of Buddhism in India, and a statue of the Buddha carved from one huge piece of rose quartz, which you'll find in the complex's small gallery.

Former Residence of Hu Xueyan

The garden at the Former Residence of Hu Xueyan, Hangzhou
The garden at the Former Residence of Hu Xueyan, Hangzhou

Hu Xueyan, the prominent Qing Dynasty merchant who founded the well known Chinese medicine company Hu Qing Yu Tang, built a grand and sprawling residence on Yuanbao Street between 1872 and 1875. You can visit the complex today. Hidden from the busy thoroughfare behind a high boundary wall, it's a warren of courtyards, public reception rooms and residential quarters inhabited by Hu, his wife and concubines and their children and staff. 

Detail of an interior at the Former Residence of Hu Xueyan
Detail of an interior at the Former Residence of Hu Xueyan 

There's plenty to see, including quirky details borne of Hu's interactions with foreign merchants: the blue stained glass windows, European style wood carvings and elaborate internal communication system are particularly striking. Hu's quarters, among them a charming garden to which his wife and concubines had no access, are a highlight.

Jade Emperor Hill and Eight Diagram Field
There are some fantastic walks available in the countryside all around West Lake, but for something a little different – and tourist free – head to Yuhuang (Jade Emperor) Hill. Climb the 1,260 steps up through whispering bamboo forest to the summit (make sure to start early in the day and take plenty of water if you're there in the summertime), where you'll find Fuxing Taoist Temple.

Prayer candles at Fuxing Taoist Temple on Jade Emperor Hill, Hangzhou
Prayer candles at Fuxing Taoist Temple on
Jade Emperor Hill, Hangzhou

It was mostly destroyed during the Cultural Revolution but has been rebuilt since – there's still a charming ramshackle quality about the place. Admire the views over West Lake on one side and the city and the Qiantang River on the other but don't miss the intricately carved ceiling panels in the main temple hall. Then head back down the hill to Zilai Cave, which is delightfully cool even on the hottest day. Lighting is limited so take a torch with you – there are numerous altars in the cave worth having a look at. Once you've emerged blinking into the sunlight, be guided by the click of mahjong tiles and grab an outside table at the tea house overlooking Eight Diagram Field. 

Eight Diagram Field from Jade Emperor Hill, Hangzhou
Eight Diagram Field from Jade Emperor Hill, Hangzhou

This agro-historical curiosity dates back to the Southern Song Dynasty, when Emperor Gaozong ordered crops to be planted in the form of the traditional eight-sided digram used to explain the universe in Taoism.

Song Town
Hangzhou was at its most influential around 800 years ago when the rulers of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) made the city their capital. And what better way to celebrate that era of political power, mercantile dominance and accompanying cultural flourishing than with a theme park? 

Map of Song Town, Hangzhou
Map of Song Town, Hangzhou

At Song Town you can ride roller coasters, buy Song era tat and watch slapstick historical reenactments, all surrounded by faux Song architecture. The finale of an afternoon at Song Town is a show in its gigantic auditorium. The Legend of Romance was showing the night of my visit: featuring acrobatics, live horses, elaborate fight scenes, waterfalls, aerial work and choruses of scantily clad dancing girls, the show that curiously calls itself “one of the three best shows in the world” tells the legend of Xuxian and Bainiangzi, who supposedly met and fell in love on a visit to West Lake. It's a spectacle to make you oooh and aaah that also offers fascinating insights into cultural tastes in contemporary China.

Scene from The Legend of Romance at Song Town, Hangzhou
Scene from The Legend of Romance at Song Town, Hangzhou 



8 October 2013

West Lake Story


Temples, tourists and tandems – a first taste of Hangzhou's famous West Lake 


There were no cabs to be found. Bus after bus pulled up where I waited along with thousands of other tourists, but their drivers just scoffed when Cecily, my guide, told them where we wanted to go. I began to fear that we would have to walk, or else hire one of the tandems so popular with the rest of this enormous crowd, if we hoped to arrive before the start of the show we had tickets for. Walking was a no-no – we were exhausted from an afternoon ticking off the sights of West Lake – and given the number of unskilled cyclists on the road, not to mention the terrifying Chinese drivers, a tandem felt like a bad idea too.


Then just as despair was setting in an old man on a mobility scooter asked us if we wanted a ride. It sounded like a joke, but after some haggling over the price, we ducked under the jerry-rigged umbrella sheltering the scooter from the non-existent rain, squeezed onto the back seat and off we went.

West Lake is the reason why Hangzhou, an otherwise unremarkable city of 6 million people an hour by train from Shanghai, is one of the most visited spots in China. It attracts 3 million tourists a year, almost all of them Chinese. I was there at the invitation of the city's tourist board, my task to tell the world about this beautiful place.


A sightseeing boat cruises past Leifeng Pagoda
I arrived in Hangzhou on day two of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a three-day public holiday and massive thanksgiving and harvest celebration. I had been warned that Hangzhou was a popular tourist spot – nothing could have prepared me for how busy it was that weekend.

As I walked from our hotel to the shore of the lake, dozens of families and groups of friends cut across my path on hired tandems and triplet bikes. As I bought tickets for a sightseeing cruise of West Lake, women behind me in the queue thrust fistfuls of money past me towards the ticket window. As we cruised serenely across the lake towards Fairy Island, parents carrying small children in their arms squeezed into ever smaller gaps on the port and starboard side walkways.



West Lake was formed around 2000 years ago when silt build up on the Qiantang River created sandbanks and a lagoon. Over the following centuries, dredging projects, complex irrigation systems and the construction of dykes and causeways saw the lake evolve into the shallow 6.5 sq km body of water we see now. It's been a popular tourist attraction since the 12th century, when the Southern Song Dynasty made Hangzhou its capital in 1127: pilgrims, merchants, politicians and poets took boating trips and visited the area's many temples back then with exactly the same enthusiasm as visitors today.

On Fairy Island, at the very centre of the lake, I wandered busy paths, stopping to admire fields of lotus plants (sadly not in flower until summertime) and the Broken Bridge, said to be the place where Xuxian and Bainianzi, the protagonists of one of China's favourite romantic legends, met and fell in love. Prettiest of all was the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon, an area of the lake where where three small pagodas form a triangle in the water. The peaceful scene they form appears on China's 1RMB notes.


Clearly visible in the background, standing resplendent on a hill overlooking the lake and Fairy Island, was the next stop on my West Lake tour, the Leifeng Pagoda. Another boat ride and a few minutes' walk later and I was there. The pagoda dates back to 975 AD but collapsed in 1924 after falling into disrepair. It wasn't until the turn of the 21st century that the local government decided to rebuild it, opening the new tower in 2002. What may have been lost in ancient mystique has been gained in convenience – lifts and excellent lighting make exploring the tower an easy and pleasant experience. The best bits are at bottom and top: in the basement the carefully conserved base of the original tower is on display, while the views over West Lake, Hangzhou and the surroundings area from level five are truly magnificent.


View over the countryside surrounding
Hangzhou from Leifeng Pagoda
Back at ground level, and following a thrilling 20-minute mobility scoot along the Su Causeway, the lake was the star once more as the lights went down for Impression West Lake. This outdoor spectacular with a cast of dozens was co-directed by Zhang Yimou, director of the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony and films including Hero and House of Flying Daggers. Taking place on a stage built 3cm below the surface of the lake in a natural theatre formed by hundreds of weeping willows, it marked a beautiful end to the day. 

A scene from Impression West Lake

My only regret? After the show I had to make my own way home – my mobility scooter knight in shining armour was nowhere to be found.