Traveling to Hangzhou is my first trip out of the city of Shanghai. Since I have friends who will be staying overnight, I've decided to stay one night there as well and enjoy a full day in Hangzhou.

My friend and I took the Line 10 metro all the way to the terminal stop Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station. From there, we purchased round-trip tickets, planning to leave Suzhou at 8:30 pm. The train ride was quite comfortable and fast: it took only 40 minutes to get there and this is even less than the time we took to commute to the railway station!

From the station, we lined up for a taxi that drove us to Wushanyi International Youth Hostel, the place where we will be staying for a night. There were many foreigners chilling in the lobby cafe. We decided to dorm with six other people that we didn't know but everything was fine since the hostel was actually more than decent: it has free Wi-Fi-, security lockers, shared bathroom, luggage storage, and more.

First Stop: Hefang Street

​After dropping off our belongings into the lockers, we started walking towards Hefang Street which was literally right outside the hostel. Stores and vendors lined up on the sides as we walked down the aisle. It was a live and fun environment especially when my friend was asked to help smash one of their food with them.

Last Stop: West Lake

We walked towards the renowned West Lake after getting out from Hefang Street. Sadly, the sun has already set so we didn't get to watch the sunset but we plan on watching it the next day. Of course, we took a couple of photos and strolled along the lake before heading back to the hostel.

As we head back, we had to go through Hefang Street again and amusingly we both spent close to an hour and a half in there purchasing various cute arts and crafts. This is where most of my expenses were spent during my stay in Hangzhou. :(