I cannot imagine how close Hangzhou and Shanghai is these days, after the D-Train (CRH train) connects the two cities.
The Schedule
The schedule for this trip is perfect – I would highly recommend people to use this schedule for a relaxed trip to Hangzhou. Disclaimer: this is by no means a good trip for first time visitor to Hangzhou. If you have been to Hangzhou for 4 times or more, and just want to relax during the weekend, this is a good choice.
- Wake up late in Shanghai and have brunch.
- Shanghai to Hangzhou via D665 (13:12 – 14:30).
- Settle down in a youth hotel, or nice small hotel – talk or have a cup of coffee.
- Visit a nice restaurant and have good and cheap dinner.
- Hang out late
- Wake up late, and have relaxed lunch.
- Walk alone West Lake, or take boat for one hour.
- Hangzhou to Shanghai via D670 (14:55 – 16:20).
- Dinner in Shanghai and relax.
Shanghai South Railway Station
Shanghai Railway Station is now the middle point of Shanghai to Hangzhou trip. If you arrive at the South Station, you maybe have completed half of the trip. Me, as an example, took 1 hour to get to the train station via taxi -> Line #4 -> Line #1, and took another one and half hour to Hangzhou.
I know I have posted many photos of the big round roof of Shanghai South Railway Station, but every time I visit, I cannot help taking a picture again.
Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang
The problem for the South Railway station is, the transition between Metro and Station is still too hard. I would rather give up the Shanghai – Hangzhou Maglev plan, and spend more time to make the transition smoother. That can save the total amount of time used on road.
On Train
The current D-train does not have electronic outlet. But the 1 and half hour trip is OK for many laptop. We watched a movie on the way.
Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang
Note: the laptop is not provided for your trip. :-)
In Hangzhou
Hangzhou always have nice places to eat and to shop. This is my most favorite restaurant.
Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang
At the Wushan Plaza, here are some interesting stuff.
Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang
West Lake
We cannot visit Hangzhou without a glance of the West Lake. Here you are. West Lake looks great even when it is raining.
Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang
I do love Hangzhou, and I will be back with Wendy and Yifan soon.
For those who are interested, it’s rainning in HZ this weekend. I drive there on Sat. Took me 2.5 hours door-to-door. As fast as 100MPH on HangPu Highway. Faster than the train if you take into account the time spent on public transportation. (It could be pretty bad in HZ actually. The bus once took 1 hour from railway station to LinYing Temple.)
Overall, HZ is great. It’s considered as the back garden of SH in fact. And I think it’s true. People in HZ are more relaxed and pay more attention to life instead of business.
Didn’t try your favorite restaurant though, should do that in my next trip.
Meanwhile, I’ll recommend driving to HZ and dinning at 龙井菜馆。
I’ve never been to that restaurant,which is your favorate. Haha, I’ll go there and eat something next time I go to Hangzhou. I fell for this city the first time I went there, this June.
where in hangzhou is the chinese restaurant that is your favorite?
Last weekend we took a trip to HZ too. Really enjoyed its relaxed style.
We choose driving because it not convenient to get to Shanghai South Railway Station. The highway is fair good and fast.
HZ is very attractive, next time we’ll try your recommendation absolutely:)
I think of two things Hangzhou is more beautiful than Shanghai: 1) the lake; 2) mountains
But I think there is another reason why people may feel Hangzhou is more relaxed than Shanghai: people work at Shanghai all week day, while they visit Hangzhou only once a while. To be fair we should ask how Hangzhou people feel about Shanghai :-)
I have been to HZ for a few times, every time I went there I felt different and impressed not only by its rapid changes, but also the culture inherited from its history. Wish I could visit it again in the near future.
I enjoyed the most is cycling around the West Lake. Without fail… every time I visited HZ, I will rent a bicycle and cycle around the city and lake.
hmm… I tot the famous restaurant in HZ is Louwailou Restaurant?
建硕，非常感谢你的一直以来的博客文章，给我们非常多的启迪和乐趣，祝愿小逸凡、Wendy和你新年快乐，健康，幸福:) cheery
Happy New Year, Jian Shuo! Here’s to a really good one for you and Wendy and little Yifan :-)
Carroll, Happy New Year! Wish you and the entire family a Happy New Year in 2009! I told Wendy that I always wanted to bring Yifan to California to see Carroll, who cares and loves him so much. He is really a lucky boy to have many people looking at him when he grows up.
Is Hangzhou still one of the hottest cities in China?