Hangzhou has been called the most beautiful city in China. It’s nice… but I’m not sure I’d agree with that grandiose claim.
Hangzhou lies just north of Ningbo, south of Shanghai, and is famed for its lovely West Lake. Two of my friends from Paris came to visit me in China and so, having never been there myself, I proposed that we meet up there. They brought a stray Finnish guy along with them too.
The first thing to know about Hangzhou is that the East Railway Station is massive. It’s huge. If you need to find a particular bus just ask someone. Don’t try running around looking for it yourself – you won’t find it.
We stayed at Fiona’s Trip Hostel which was adorable.The weather was awful when we arrived in Hangzhou and 
we could not find the hostel for love nor money (it’s hidden up a small hill off the main road). When we finally found our destination, the receptionist was very helpful: she gave us free towels and took us straight to our dorm. The dorm was so cool. It felt more like a cabin with the beds all on the floor next to each other… the ideal set up for a 12 year old’s sleepover.
Nanshan Road
After drying off and having a quick beer at the hostel, we set off for dinner. We didn’t know it at the time but it is actually possible to walk to the West Lake from Fiona’s Trip Hostel. We were told that Nanshan Road is where we would want to go for bars and restaurants… we found it to be a bit lifeless. We had dinner at a bog-standard Chinese restaurant and decided to just go back to our hostel for beers and cards.
Tea Gardens and Lingyin Temple
The following day was scheduled to be a hike. Our plan was to start at the bamboo forest, work our way through the tea gardens and up to Lingyin Temple. The receptionist of the hostel suggested this was too much for us to do in one day and so we started at the tea gardens. She lent us a proper map and we set off on our adventure… 
…two hours later we still hadn’t found the beginning of the trek. This has been a recurring theme in China and before you judge my map reading skills, it’s not just me who has found this problem; even my omniscient father had issues with the maps in China! After walking through many pretty villages and tea gardens, we finally found the beginning of the path. The path led us up, up and up. At the top, we met an American man who told us we were in a very different place to what we’d thought. No worries though, we walked down the other side of the mountain, through the tea fields and finally arrived, miraculously, at Lingyin Temple.
Lingyin Temple is 45Yuan
(about £5) to enter but actually, it is worth it. Lots of lovely Buddhas to look at, people kowtowing, and Chinese tourists sneakily taking photos of you. It was very touristey but somehow still peaceful. If you’re up for it, there’s a lot of step climbing to be done and some gorgeous views. We met a nice boy called Kailun (I gave him the name Kieran as his western name). At first he was great, giving us ideas of what to do in Hangzhou, he added me on Wechat and things were going very well… until we realised that this guy would not be leaving our sides without a fight. He asked to stay with us in our home countries, offered to cook us dinner that night and to get a taxi with us to our hostel. Oh and he stared at my friend’s chest throughout the whole encounter.
After finally shaking Kieran off, we got back to the hostel and went straight out for dinner. Fiona’s Trip is on the edge of a very sweet village called Manjuelong Village. We had a lovely meal on a terrace and I introduced two of the three of my friends to bullfrog as a delicacy… the other is a vegan and a vegetarian. Being vegetarian in China proved quite hard because many of the seemingly vegetarian dishes come with a surprise sprinkling of pork. 
Hangzhou Nightlife
That evening we hit Hangzhou nightlife… kind of. We had predrinks in our room (because obviously we’re poor) and were then advised to go to Old Captain Bar. On arriving there we noticed that although there was live music and a lively ambiance, the next door bar had better music and a better ambiance. We watched a live band covering some pretty decent songs and had a few rounds of incredibly overpriced ‘stubbies’. We were, again, approached by a Chinese man. This time his name was Billy and he was producing a documentary. Billy was drunk and Billy too would not leave us alone. This was at first not so problematic because he gave us booze and food… then he started preying on my friend. When Billy’s friends left the bar and he opted to stay with us we did what any self respecting humans would do… we waited until he went to the loo and we did a runner.
The plan was to continue to Max Nightclub but on arrival, we found it was closed . This often happens in China: the turnover for late night establishments is very high so it’s best to check with a local rather than the internet as to whether a venue is still up and running. We begrudgingly headed a few doors down to the dodgiest bar I’ve ever been in. We ordered a random selection of cocktails and sat there for as long as was socially acceptable. From there we went for a night time stroll ‘to the lake’. No. We ended up at a housing complex. We gave up and went to bed.
West Lake
The final day, w
e checked out and headed to the West Lake. It was the end of April and the weather was incredible… the internet would suggest that this is a recipe for an obscene amount of tourists. The reality was not too bad. We waltzed onto a boat trip on the lake with no queue at all. It was a tranquil and pleasant experience. They took us to the scene on the back of a 1Yuan note where you stop for 5 minutes for pictures and then return. Some people will advise you to avoid the lake in Hangzhou… I would say just head to the area and gauge the situation. It’s not unmissable but it is impressive.
Here ended our short trip to Hangzhou. My two friends continued on to Beijing and the stray Finnish boy came to stay in Ningbo before continuing south to Guilin. Hangzhou was nice but I would only recommend it if it’s en route – don’t go out of your way. The city is pleasant but unremarkable; it’s the surrounding countryside that makes it worth the visit.
