10 Best Things to Do
West Lake shapes Hangzhou, with causeways, wooded hills and pagodas framing its water. Beyond the shore, Longjing tea grows around villages where a walk can end with a freshly brewed cup. Lingyin’s temple halls and rock carvings make a rewarding excursion, while the Grand Canal reveals another side of the city’s history. Leave time for silk and archaeology museums, then explore the restaurants that give local ingredients both traditional and contemporary treatments.
West Lake
Xihu District, China
West Lake is Hangzhou’s defining landscape: water, wooded hills, islands and causeways arranged into views that have influenced gardens across East Asia. Walk a section of the shoreline before taking to the water, rather than trying to cover every celebrated viewpoint in one outing. The lake rewards changes of light and perspective. Its bridges and planted banks make it particularly satisfying for travellers who enjoy photography, landscape design and unhurried walking.
Classical lake scenery
Lingyin Temple and Feilai Feng
Xihu District, China
Lingyin combines an active Buddhist temple with the carved rock faces of Feilai Feng, giving a visit both architectural scale and intricate sculptural detail. Allow time to look closely at the carvings before entering the temple halls, and dress respectfully around worshippers. Admission arrangements have changed: advance online reservations are required, and on-site registration has been suspended. Carry the original identity document used for the reservation alongside the confirmation for entry.
Buddhist art and forested temple grounds
China National Tea Museum, Shuangfeng
Xihu District, China
The Shuangfeng branch of the China National Tea Museum puts Hangzhou’s most famous drink in a wider Chinese context. Exhibitions cover tea history, varieties and utensils, while a Jiangnan garden setting keeps the visit closely connected to the landscape outside. Look for the displays devoted to West Lake Longjing before heading into the growing districts. It is a useful introduction for curious drinkers who want more from a tasting than a sales pitch.
Understanding Longjing tea
China National Silk Museum
Xihu District, China
Silk is central to Hangzhou’s identity, and this specialist museum gives it the attention usually reserved for painting or porcelain. Explore textile history, the movement of silk along trading routes and the skill behind the finished cloth. Exhibitions change, so check the programme if a particular period or designer matters to you. Individual visitors no longer need a reservation under the museum’s published admission policy, but should bring an original identity document.
Textiles and Silk Road history
Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City
Yuhang District, China
Liangzhu takes the itinerary far beyond imperial Hangzhou. This archaeological landscape preserves evidence of a society built on rice cultivation, sophisticated water management and elaborate jade rituals more than four millennia ago. The interest lies in understanding how the city worked, rather than expecting a collection of intact ancient buildings. Arrange a separate excursion to Yuhang and allow time for interpretation; a knowledgeable guide can make the earthworks and landscape considerably easier to read.
Tracing early Chinese civilisation
Grand Canal and Gongchen Bridge
Gongshu District, China
Gongchen Bridge gives a Hangzhou visit a different waterside perspective. Its stone arches span the Grand Canal, part of the transport network that carried goods and helped connect northern and southern China. Cross the bridge and explore the historic district on its western side, then return for views along the water. The appeal is the relationship between an immense engineering project and the everyday scale of the neighbourhoods that grew beside it.
Canal history on foot
Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Zhijiang Branch
Xihu District, China
The Zhijiang branch brings Zhejiang’s archaeology, ceramics, painting and regional history together in a substantial modern museum. Its collection includes Liangzhu jade and works associated with the province’s long artistic traditions, while the history galleries connect prehistoric cultures with later periods. Choose a few areas to explore properly rather than treating every room as compulsory. Check the current exhibition schedule, since individual masterpieces and special displays should not be assumed to remain permanently on view.
A broad view of Zhejiang history
Longjing Village and Tea Gardens
Xihu District, China
Longjing Village brings the cup back to the hillside. Tea gardens rise around the settlement, with Lion Peak closely associated with the celebrated West Lake Longjing growing area. Explore the village and its paths before stopping for tea; the nearby imperial tea garden adds stories of the Qianlong emperor to the agricultural setting. Ask clearly about tasting and purchase prices before ordering, and treat the growing plots as working land rather than unrestricted walking routes.
Walking through tea country
Xixi National Wetland Park
Xihu District, China
Xixi offers a change from the broad expanse of West Lake, with intersecting waterways, ponds, planted banks and traces of waterside village life. Walking routes and boat trips reveal different parts of the landscape, so decide which matters most before choosing an entrance and ticket. The wetland’s ecological importance adds substance to an otherwise gentle outing. Leave time for pauses by the water rather than trying to complete every named sight in a single visit.
Waterways and quieter landscapes
Leifeng Pagoda
Xihu District, China
Leifeng Pagoda is as much a viewpoint as a landmark, looking across West Lake from its southern side. The present tower is a modern reconstruction completed in 2002, built above the remains of its much older predecessor. Its association with the Legend of the White Snake gives the visit a literary thread as well as a scenic one. Choose clear weather when possible, and look beyond the tower itself to the lake, hills and city.
Elevated views over West Lake