Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and a huge range in quality and price. The
Dragon Well
itself is at the end
of the village, a group of buildings around a spring, done up in a rather
touristy fashion. Bus #27 runs to Longjing from the northwestern lakeshore,
near Yuefei Mu.
East of Longjing and south of Xi Hu, the area extending down to the
Qiantang River is full of trees and gentle slopes. Of all the parks in this part
of the city, perhaps the most attractive is the
Hupaomeng Quan
(Tiger
Running Dream Spring; daily 8am-5pm; ¥15). The spring here - according
to legend, originally found by a ninth-century Zen Buddhist monk with the
help of two tigers - is said to produce the purest water around, which serious
connoisseurs use for brewing the best Longjing teas. For centuries, this has
been a popular site for hermits to settle; now largely forested, it is dotted
with teahouses, shrines, waterfalls and pagodas. Bus #504 and tourist bus #5
both run to Hupaomeng Quan from the city centre, down the eastern shore
of the lake, while tourist bus #3 passes close by on the way down from
Longjing.
Eating and drinking
As a busy resort for local tourists, Hangzhou has plenty of good
places to
eat
. The wedge-shaped neighbourhood between Hubin Lu and Yan'an Lu is
home to a number of Chinese restaurants and fast-food joints. Touristy
Jiefang Lu is a good spot to make for, with a variety of Chinese restaurants
and snacks.
Many Chinese tourists make it a point to visit one of the famous
histor-
ical restaurants
in town: both
Louwailou
(Tower Beyond Tower) and
Tianwaitian
(Sky Beyond Sky) serve local specialities at reasonable prices,
while a third,
Shanwaishan
(Mountain Beyond Mountain), has garnered a bad
reputation over the years. All three restaurants were named after a line in
Southern Song poet Lin Hejin's most famous poem: “Mountain beyond
mountain and tower beyond tower/Could song and dance by West Lake be
ended anyhow?”
For
nightlife
, try the smattering of clubs across from the Chinese Art Institute,
none of which stands out from the pack.
Restaurants and cafés
Kuiyuan Guan
Jiefang Lu, just west of
Zhongshan Zhong Lu (go through the
entrance with Chinese lanterns hanging
outside, and it's on the left, upstairs).
Specializes in more than 40 noodle dishes
for all tastes, from the mundane (beef
noodle soup) to the acquired (pig intestines
and kidneys), and also offers a range of
local seafood delicacies. If you stay away
from the exotica and you'll find it reasonably
priced around ¥20 a bowl.
Louwailou
Gu Shan Island. The
best-known restaurant in Hangzhou,
whose specialities include dongpo pork,
fish-shred soup and beggar's chicken
(a whole chicken cooked inside a ball of
mud, which is broken and removed at
your table). Lu Xun and Zhou Enlai, among
others, have dined here. Standard dishes
cost ¥30-45.
Tianwaitian
At the gate to Feilai Feng.
Chinese tourists flock here to sample the
fresh seafood, supposedly caught from Xi
Hu, though it's not as good as Louwailou.
Dishes are ¥40-55 each.
Zhiweiguan
Renhe Lu, half a block east of
the lake. In a very urbane atmosphere, with
piped Western classical music, you can
enjoy assorted dianxin by the plate for
around ¥20, including xiao long bao (small,
fine stuffed dumplings) and mao erduo
(fried, crunchy stuffed dumplings). The
huntun tang (wonton soup) and jiu miao
(fried chives) are also good.
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