Hangzhou

Spend an afternoon at a tea house

A highlight of visiting hangzhou is getting out to manjuelong village, south of the lake on top of the hill longjin village or meijiawu village, west and further west of the lake, respectively to drink your tea. these villages have had a make-over in the last 2 or 3 years and while can be busy at weekends they are still great places to while away an afternoon watching the tea being picked. the tea houses all serve very local food - pickled vegetables, chicken broth etc - but often there is no menu; rather the owner will suggest what you should eat. make sure you get a price for the dishes before you tuck in.

Zhejiang University

浙江大学, yuquan campus (http://www.zju.edu.cn/english/). this university is the product of combining four formerly individual universities: zhejiang university, hangzhou university, zhejiang agricultural university and zhejiang medical university. the university offers 110 undergraduate, 264 masters and 181 doctoral degree areas. tuition is extremely affordable from a western perspective. courses in chinese language and culture are â¥18,000 ~$2,250 usd a year, â¥9,000 a term, or â¥800 ~$100 usd a week and are taught mostly in chinese with occasional english.

Early morning bikeride

Start on the north side of the lake, and head west towards zhejiang university, then down lingyin road past the botanical gardens and into longjing village. keep heading west and south through the tea villages, bamboo forest, and scenic valleys to the river and cut over towards six harmonies pagoda. go back to the south end of the lake via the road right next to six harmonies, past the zoo, through the tunnels. cycling is banned directly alongside the lake for about half of the way, so walking may be better if you want to see the lake.

Go Hiking in the Mountains

Truly hangzhou has the most accessible and interesting hiking environments within walking distance of any city. purchase a topographic map, not difficult to find. suggestion 1. start with the the climb up to the baochu pagoda from beishan road, the trail passes the pagoda and continues on with a rock scramble and great views to a series of stone paths that follow the ridge. keep going and relax, you can't get lost because this mountain is surrounded by main roads. there are temples, shrines and caves along the way with a sprinkling of tea houses. stay with the high ground where you can and you should come out near the corner of shuguang rd and beishan rd. in an easy 2 hours, with plenty of opportunities for side explorations. you can walk back or return by bus be brave, as long as the bus is going inbound it will take you somewhere central. the fare will be y1-3 and services are frequent or cab. suggestion 2. start at wushan square, at the southern end of yan'an rd, and walk south through the developed park land. stay high, and pass the war memorial, stunning stone sculptures, down the large stairway to wansongling rd. cross the road, turn left and 100 metres later enter the forest past a memorial garden. from here the stone paths lead inexorably south to fenghuang hill and then south west finally to yuhuang hill, the summit of which contains a large temple complex and boasts marvellous views over west lake and the qiantang river. descend to the west, but beware the tricky circular road, to hupao road and take a bus back from the hangzhou zoo bus stop. it will take a slow 4 hours. you will at times be geographically challenged, but soon you will get the drift of it, and be better prepared to tackle the huge mountain, forest and tea village areas to the south west of the lake. the complete circuit from xixi rd to wushan square via northern peak, shi peak, wuyun hill, jiuxi, hz zoo, yuhuang, fenghuang hill will take a party of regular fitness, with stops, 10-12 hours. then for a hike with a difference, hike out to meijiawu and stay at a guest house, returning the following day via a different route.

Visit the temples and pagodas

The most popular ones are baochu pagoda, which is the tower-like one on a hill on the north side of the lake. this hill is a great hike, with excellent views of the lake and city, several smaller temples of a variety of religions, and huanglong cave on the northern slope of the hill. 6 harmonies pagoda, located on the river, is the largest and most imposing. a fun hike after the pagoda leads from the shores of the river, behind the pagoda, and into the longjing tea fields near the tea museum. lingyin temple, on the west side of the lake, is also a large complex with a surprisingly devout crowd of worshipers. this area also has many excellent hikes, as well as a cable car to the top of beifeng hill with another temple at the top. finally, leifeng pagoda has recently been rebuilt and has escalators and elevators, while all that remains of the foundation is on display on the main level. despite its lack of ancient chinese beauty, the benches and gazebo-like structures surrounding the area make for a nice place to sit in the breeze, and it also has an excellent view looking in the opposite direction as the baochu area.

Go for a Run

The lakeside surrounds of gardens, parks, views and items of interest make a great backdrop to a run. join the "even if it rains" running group of locals and laowei at 7.30pm on tuesday nights from the maya bar across the road from the stadium in shuguang rd, at the traffic lights where shuguang rd. bends. socialise after; it's a welcoming group. the local chapter of the hash house harriers is sadly in remission. the vasque mountain race of approx 35km through the mountains, tea fields and lakeside is held around october and in november is held the hangzhou marathon, half marathon and lesser distances.

Zhejiang University of Science and Technology (ZUST).（浙江科技大学）

Zust is one of the most beautiful universities in hangzhou. it is located in the xiaoheshan high education district. you can visit the university by taking bus k193, k310, j12. if english-speaking people want to teach in hangzhou, zust would be a good choice.

Shopping

See the "buy" section for more info.

Boating along the Hangzhou-Beijing Canal

Is becoming more popular.

Ice Skating

Hangzhou has a full olympic size commercial ice skating rink located in the mixc mall, new central business district near the qintang river. the world ice arena is open 365 days a year at 10:30am closing at 10pm. weekdays have unlimited skating time for the entry price. before 5pm, price is ¥50 and after 5:30pm is ¥60. weekends are ¥70 for 2 hour sessions. all prices include the new canadian rental skate, use of locker and all safety gear elbow, knee, wrist and helmets. professional coaching is availalbe at the school reservations desk. pro shop has an extensive line of figure skating equipment and apparel as well some novelty items related to skating. located on the 4th floor of the mall. management and some general staff speak english and chinese. ice is resurfaced every 2 hours by a new electric model 552 zamboni machine. the surroundings are elegant and clean. there is a small cafe inside for snacks. the rink keeps a doctor on duty at all times to assist with minor injuries. the rink's entire refrigeration system is dramatically displayed with cool blue lighting and real time information can be viewed on an lcd screen.

Go to a book shop

Hangzhou has several book shops, xinhua bookstore on jiefang road near the jiebai department store is the oldest bookshop. boku bookstore at the intersection of wener road and hancheng north road. it's a book lovers paradise. the pageone bookstore in the mixc mall also has a fairly sizable selection of english books.

Learn Tai Chi Chuan

Tai chi chuan is popular in china and as part of chinese culture it has been highly evaluated by the whole world. but the problem is if you are from another country then the language would be a big gap. one tai chi instructor for you is james xu. he is experienced in teaching foreigners tai chi in english and has his own web site at (http://taichinese.com).

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