A day in Hangzhou

 

"There is Paradise in Heaven. And on Earth, there are Suzhou and Hangzhou"

Chaoying, poet of the Yuan Dynasty (1279 - 1368)

 

 

Star : Starting point

(1) Xiaoyingzhou Island

(2) Six Harmonies Pagoda (Liuhe Ta)

(3) Su Dongpo Dam

(4) Baoshi Pagoda

 

Last Friday, Julie, Gabriel and I woke up early to spend the whole day in Hangzhou.

Capital of Zhejiang, 200 kilometers from Shanghai, Hangzhou is registered in the World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 2011 for its West Lake existing for over 2000 years.

We took the early train at 7 am at the Shanghai railway station. An hour later at a speed of 300km/h, we arrived in the city. At the Hangzhou train station, there were many many posters and banners related to the G-20. Indeed, China will host the eleventh G-20 summit this year (to read the article on this subject click here).

To my mind, I was a bit disappointed upon arriving. I had heard so much of Hangzhou for its pleasant green city, its big lake, hills and forests, its wide fields of tea and I was waiting for a wild expedition. There is indeed the Grand Canal and the West Lake which is impressive, and Lingyinsi Hill remains great wilderness... But all of this is in the center of an urban savannah, a full flow city with noisy work sites that breaks the charm of the landscape.

 

 

 

 

We started our day with a boat trip on the West Lake. It took us to one of the lake's islands, the Xiaoyingzhou Island. We walked over the bridges which zigzag between four basins full of lily ponds, red carps, stone statues and pagodas.

 

Gabriel and Julie on the boat to Xiaoyingzhou Island

 

 

The boat drove us back across the South of the lake. There, we climbed to the top of the Six Harmonies Pagoda (Liuhe Ta). This 59 meter high pagoda dated from 970 stands on a small hill. It used to be a benchmark for boats.

 

 

 

the Six Harmonies Pagoda (Liuhe Ta) from Xiaoyingzhou Island

 

We climbed the 7^th floors to admire the entire lake view.

 

 

For our lunch break we stopped at one of the small shed of tofu, corn, meat skewer, etc. which are held all around the lake and even on the small islands.

By midafternoon, we crossed the entire Su Dongpo Dam linking the south and north of the lake.

Then we explored the Precious Stone Hill for two or three hours which has a very wild aspect (that comforted me). We climbed to the Baoshi Pagoda, a high thin tower stone of 45 meters. It is visible from all around the lake and offers an amazing view of Hangzhou standing by.

 

 

Baoshi Pagoda

 

 

 

I would have loved to see the tea fields, but the city and the lake still offer a lot of landscapes, pagodas, museums and hikes that would have required at least two days.