Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
an imposing staircase. Rooms overlooking
the lake command a premium.
9
Shangri-La
Beishan Lu, next to the Yuefei
Mu
T
0571/87977951,
W
www.shangri-la
.com. Total air-conditioned luxury in beautiful,
secluded grounds, overhung by trees, on
the northern shore of the lake. There's an
expensive but tasty breakfast buffet.
8
Xinxin
58 Beishan Lu
0571/87999090.
Standard, mildly worn rooms, but it does
have one of the nicest locations, overlooking
the Xi Hu's northern shore.
7
Zhonghua
55 Youdian Lu
T
0571/87027094.
Very central, between the lakefront and
Yan'an Lu, this place offers clean and well-
designed single and double rooms.
5
T
The City
Hangzhou encompasses large areas of greenery that might normally be classi-
fied as countryside. This is mainly thanks to
Xi Hu
itself - so central and
dominant a role has the lake played in the city's history that even today a trip
right round its shores does not feel like an excursion out of the city.
Within the lake are various
islands
and causeways, while the shores are home
to endless
parks
holding Hangzhou's most famous individual sights. These
range from the extravagant and historic
Yuefei Mu
(Tomb of Yuefei) to the
ancient hillside Buddhist carvings of
Feilai Feng
and its associated temple, the
Lingyin Temple
L
, one of China's largest and most renowned. Farther afield,
beautiful tea plantations nestle around the village of
Longjing
, w hile south
down to the
Qiantang River
are excellent walking opportunities.
With most of Hangzhou's sights located on or near the lakeshore, you'll find
that the ideal way to get between them is by
bike
.
Xi Hu
Xi Hu
forms a series of landscapes with rock, trees, grass and lakeside buildings
all reflected in the water and backed by luxuriant wooded hills. The lake itself
stretches just over 3km from north to south and just under 3km from east to
west, though the surrounding parks and associated sights spread far beyond this.
On a sunny day the colours are brilliant, but even with grey skies and choppy
waters, the lake views are soothing and tranquil; for the Chinese they are also
laden with literary and historic associations. Although the crowds and hawkers
are sometimes distracting, the area is so large that you can find places to escape
the hubbub.
As early as the Tang dynasty, work was taking place to control the waters of
the lake with dykes and locks, and the two
causeways
that now cross sections
of the lake, Bai Di across the north and Su Di across the west, originated in
these ancient embankments. Mainly used by pedestrians and cyclists, the
causeways offer instant escape from the noise and smog of the built-up area
to the east. The western end of Bai Di supposedly offers the best vantage point
over the lake.
Boat trips on Xi Hu
One of the most pleasant things to do on a visit to Hangzhou is to take a boat trip on
the lake. Tourist boats (¥45, including entrance fees for Santanyinyue) launch from
the two lake tour jetties and head directly for the islands. Then there are the freelance
boatmen who charge ¥80/hr for up to six people. You can also take a boat out on
your own - either electric putt-putters for four people (¥30 for 30min; ¥200 deposit),
or paddle boats (¥15-20 for 30min).
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