Purchasing the train ticket

Hangzhou is almost an hour away from Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station via the high speed rail.

You can arrive at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station by taking the Line 10 towards Hongqiao all the way to the terminal stop. After getting off, you have to look for signs that will lead you to the train station. Unlike the Shanghai Railway Station, you go through security first before actually purchasing the train ticket. You line up behind one of the several open counters and when it is your turn, you inform the person where you are going. You can purchase round-trip tickets as well.

**Know what time you will be returning if you decide to purchase round-trip**

Living Arrangements

In this new era of technology, there are countless options out there that you can consider for your housing. For me, I booked a two beds in a hostel with a friend at Wushanyi International Youth Hostel for only $9USD/night.

• Facilities: Free Wi-Fi, a shared bathroom, lockers, luggage storage, and more
• The hostel is a one-minute walk away from Hangzhou's Hefang Street and approximately a fifteen-minute walk to the West Lake

You can also book a hotel or even a room from airBnB. I would recommend booking a hotel through Expedia since that was what I did when I went to Suzhou.

Hangzhou's Three Treasures

My friend and I were lucky to encounter a friendly taxi driver who was more than willing to be our tour guide for our second day in Hangzhou. From him, we learned about the three treasures of Hangzhou.

1. Silk
2. Hangzhou is widely known for its silk.
3. The silk sold in Hefang Street are all fake. To purchase authentic silk, go to Jinsheng Silk Shop.
4. Authentic silk items usually range from 500RMB to 2000RMB
5. Longjin Tea
6. You should visit the Longjin plantations and see how the tea leaves are grown
7. This is also an ideal location for wedding photos so don't be surprise to see many brides and grooms taking their photos there
8. You should definitely fetch a pail of water from one of their wells and dap your face with the water three times as you make three wishes
9. After you should try some Longjin tea by following a villager into their house and they will make you some tea. If you like, you can purchase some too.
10. Pearl
11. Not much encounter with it but next time, I will definitely return and take a look at the pearls.

​What to do in Hangzhou

West Lake

• ​This is a huge and beautiful lake especially during sunset and in the evening.
• It is really close to Hefang Street so you can either walk through there to get to the West Lake or head there afterwards.
• You can take a small boat with five other people for 30RMB/person or 50RMB/person for the last ride (you will have to taxi back or take the bus)

Pagoda of Six Harmonies

• Unlike the other pagoda, this was a bit farther from the city so it has less tourists.
• Without an escalator, we had to climb up almost seven flights of steep stairs in order to reach the top, which was pretty cool. I like how it's not modernized like the other pagodas.
• You can take the 308 bus for 2RMB and it takes approximately 40 minutes.

Fei Lai Feng

• It is right outside of the Lingyin Temple.
• It is a peak where you would have to hike up.
• Before heading up to the peak, there are many statues of gods and goddesses that you can tour around.

​Hefang Street

• Every city has its own arts, crafts, and snacks street: Hangzhou has Hefang Street.
• You can't really seek a full meal here since they only sell small snacks such as stinky tofu and fried potatoes on a skewer.
• The locals don't come here because they know the food can be insanitary. But you can still come here for the numerous arts and crafts that you can find at a vendor.

Other Places To Go (But I Didn't Go)

• Lingyin Temple
• Leifeng Pagoda