Hangzhou - Heaven on Earth Day Trip from Shanghai

Shanghai, China

Travel to Hangzhou, a city rich in history and spectacular scenery on this day trip from Shanghai. Cruise on Hangzhou's famous West Lake and take in the stunning views that have inspired poets and artists for centuries. Also visit the Six Harmonies Pagoda, a magnificent example of ancient Chinese architecture. You'll come to appreciate why Marco Polo once referred to Hangzhou as 'the most beautiful and magnificent city in the world'.

Hangzhou is a city rich with history and culture, spanning back over 2000 years. It made a name for itself in the Seventh Century, when the Grand Canal, the world's longest canal opened and linked Hangzhou to Beijing and other centers of trade. The South Song Dynasty (A.D. 1127-1279) helped make Hangzhou famous when the imperial family settled here early in the 12th century.

On arrival to Hangzhou, your first stop is Six Harmonies Pagoda, also know as Liuhe Pagoda. Overlooking the Qiantang River, this massive structure is a masterpiece of ancient Chinese architecture. Visit the museum that exhibits the various ancient Chinese pagoda styles. Continue to Meijiawu Tea Village for a traditional tea ceremony and an insight into its significance in Chinese culture.

After lunch, cruise across West Lake to experience peace and serenity like no place else in China.  Your cruise ends at Flower Harbor where you can walk along on Su Causeway and feed the fish in the Red Fish Pond to pray for the good luck.

Finally, experience nature and visit '9 Creeks and 18 Gullies'. Enjoy a lovely walk amongst this peaceful environment. There are some quaint places to stop off along the way too, including a lagoon and a small pavilion which has been converted into a great tea and snack hous

USD $107.99

Review by: David S	March 2012
I was hoping for a rural contrast to Shanghai (where I go for business frequently). However, Hangzhou is almost 10MM people and is just as urban as any other major metro in China.

Review by: Marina G	February 2012
It's ok, it gives you an idea of the city.

Review by: Marlene S	November 2011
It was a good trip, however I wld have liked to spent more time in the Lake area-and the boat trip was pretty short. However the guide was helpful and I very much appreciated the effort she went to to have my jacket that I had left in the Restaurant returned to me. The driver for both our trips was exceptional-he managed to drive through peak traffic at a reasonable speed and somehow direct us through without any problems or feeling unsafe. He was great.

Review by: Aditi	October 2011
The tour was fantastic. Please cater for tourist who have special dietary requirements.

Review by: Bruce W	September 2011
Guide and driver were friendly and helpful. It is a long day trip, two hours each way, and it would be good to add something else to the Hangzhou end to make the journey more worthwhile. The West Lake itself was lovely. The pagoda visit after lunch was a bit of a non-event. Lunch itself was inedible.

Review by: Connie V	September 2011
Not recommended. Hangzhou wasn't as beautiful as advertised. Our guide wasn't very informative. The Suzhou and Zhouzhang Water Village Day tour is a much better side trip from Shanghai.

Review by: Steven E	August 2011
long way to go but was well worth the visit, beautiful scenery really enjoyed it.

Review by: Pat	July 2011
The drive time was very long in a small minibus which was a bit of a drawback. Otherwise a very enjoyable day.

Review by: Christianto C	June 2011
Hangzhou is a scenic location. We had a good time there. Unfortunately, the journey is a bit long from Shanghai (about 3 hrs). Our guide, Frankie, is a friendly person but he is still new in the job, I think. He didn't provide much commentaries about the location, the building, etc.

Review by: Audrey M	May 2011
Beautiful place to visit. Recommend trip for the destiation. But; van smaller than on previous trips, older and somewhat dirty with mushy odour. A pity for a 2.5 travel time each way. Felt rushed when walking around, especially short time at the pictureqse fish lake area.

Review by: Chan Kong F	May 2011
Hangzhou is worth visiting. The bus ride is a little long and bumpy depending on the van or bus you get. Since we visited on the May Day holiday, the traffic conditions weren't ideal. We had a friendly tour guide.

Review by: Susan N	May 2011
After a 3 + hours drive out of Shanghai we finally made it to Hangzhou. the traffic was horrible in town that day, riding in a small minivan that had A/C but the driver didn't want to turn it on made it even worse. After our boat ride we went to eat..Ok meal, then we went to the tea house for green tea. We made one more stop but only had about 10 minutes to take pictures. then we piled into the van and rode back to Shanghai. It was very hot in the van even with the windows open. Everyone slept except me because i saw the driver start slapping his face and shaking his head trying to stay awake. I was so happy to return to my hotel! Perhaps you could charge people more money and take the high speed train as a group and have a driver meet the group in Hangzhou. This would eliminate so much time on the road.

Review by: Robin W	May 2011
Hangzhou is a lovely city, and West Lake there is a must-see. The venerable Longjing tea plantation tour and tasting were excellent, if a thinly-disguised ploy to stimulate the buying impulse. The problem with this daytrip is that the majority of one's time is spent in a van, picking up and dropping off fellow travellers and going to and from Shanghai. Fast train might be the better transportation method. The lunch place was disappointingly mediocre and lacked a lake view. Lastly, our guide added little to the experience. His role seemed simply to be shepherding us to and from the bus and the boat on the Lake. All in all, the Hangzhou day trip served as an enticing but hardly satisfying introduction to one of China's top 10 destinations.

Review by: Clysta K	May 2011
Tour should include transportation to and from Hangzhou by train with transportation to Shanghai station by tour escort and follow up transport in Hangzhou. Six hours in the car through Shanghai traffic in exchange for three hours sight seeing is not a good deal. The train takes 45 minutes. The tour in Hangzhou was excellent.

Review by: Amy	April 2011
Beautiful gardens and the green tea village demo / tasting was interesting

Review by: Dominique R	April 2011
dfenitively never again!!! half a day on the highway with trafic jams!! all this for a glance an eye on a poor lake !!never again

Review by: flummi	November 2010
We had a great time,hangzhou is a nice city, but not small!! Helen our tour guide was awesome, she knew everything and could answer all our questions.

Review by: Ken L	November 2010
Unfortunately when we arrived there, the mist/fog/pollution was so bad we could hardly see more than 200metres across the lake. The areas around the lake were very interesting. As our driver had got lost going there, we were short of time and the areas around the lake were rushed. She got even more lost when returning to Shanghai and was so late that our guide deserted us at the first drop-off back in Shanghai and we were left hoping the driver knew how to get back to our hotel. A most disappointing tour! No stars from us!

Review by: Tracey C	October 2010
A huge day with so much jammed in. We went unfortunately on a public holiday and got caught in traffic for hours. To see the traditional site of tea and to be educated in the fine arts of tea making was well worth the trip in the end though.

Review by: Trevor H	October 2010
It was a very long drive (heavy traffic) from Shanghai. I would have preferred to travel by train to Hangzhou and be collected from the station by bus and shown around. Hangzhou, the lake, the pagoda and tea fields are all interesting. If you can avoid the drive and catch a train, then visit this area.

Review by: SIRIN W	September 2010
Eventhough I have a private tour (only me and my wife), it is not a good tour, the tour leader didn't explain the history of the places and/or he should show more interesting places in Hangzhou. He acted more like a companion to us, helped us with pictures taking. However, as we love tea, we enjoy the tea place visiting.

Review by: ANTHONIA A	September 2010
Overall the trip was good, One thing need to be improved is the type of car/van. Total pax : 9. Plus 1 Driver + 1 Tour Guide, Hence 11 altogether. The van was considerable too small & cramped for this more than 3 hours / trip.

Review by: Nancy N	September 2010
Hangzhou is a beautiful city, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the 13-tiered pagoda and gardens, as well as West Lake and the tea farm. We had a fun tour guide who led us through some memorable sites-

Review by: Michael P	September 2010
Weather was misty so did not experience beautifull colours of scenery - but still a wonderfull day excursion - West Lake should not be missed

Review by: Mel C, Singapore	July 2010
An easy and enjoyable trip. Our tour guide Maggie took good care of us and she speaks excellent English. A suggestion for the trip, perhaps the lunch can be more authentic i.e. at least give the guests a taste of Hangzhou cuisine e.g. Dong Pou meat

Review by: Melissa C	July 2010
An easy and enjoyable trip. Our tour guide Maggie took good care of us and she speaks excellent English. A suggestion for the trip, perhaps the lunch can be more authentic i.e. at least give the guests a taste of Hangzhou cuisine e.g. Dong Pou meat

Review by: Penelope W, Australia	May 2010
Weather not good but my guide kept me entertained and informed. The Peony festival was beautiful and the mist gave the feeling of the old warriors being away in the distance. I will definitely go back again.

Review by: Richard F, New Zealand	May 2010
Very interesting and an enjoyable day. Only drawback is the long drive back if the traffic is heavy. Definitely worth doing.

Review by: Anonymous	May 2010
Very interesting and an enjoyable day. Only drawback is the long drive back if the traffic is heavy. Definitely worth doing.

Review by: Anonymous	February 2010
Hangzhou was beautiful but unfortunately for us it was raining on the day which spolit it. I would check the weather forecast before going because it can make a big difference to your experience. It is worth going but we spent a lot of the time driving there and back rather than spending time enjoying the scenery. The guide also cut short our tour because there was only two of us which I felt was unfair. We were also asked to pay extra to go up the Pagoda which is terrible because it should already be included.

Review by: LYNN C	January 2010
Hangzhou is truly Heaven on Earth, a place that you must visit. A place worth travelling 2.5 hrs to. However, the last leg of the day trip was a terrible disappointment. It was merely a garden to see trees, birds and fishes. Nothing close to what it is named: '9 creeks and 18 gullies'. If I had known this beforehand, I would have joined the day trip my hotel provides that brings you to a more worthy place, Lingyin Temple. Another strange thing was having to pay 10rmb per person to climb the Six Harmony pagoda. That's no big deal to me, but it doesnt make much sense to fork out another 10rmb when this could easily be included in the day trip cost! A one day trip will not allow you to sink in the beauty of Hangzhou, but for those with not much time to spare, you should still do it and return another time.

Review by: Gail V	September 2009
We have rated this low because of the incredible length of time 4 hours to get to Hangzhou in a tiny little cramped mini-bus, no good if you are tall! The tea gardens were very interesting but of course, the usual hard sell with increased prices for Westerners according to our Chinese friends. Hangzhou was incredibly polluted, as is much of China of course, therefore very dull and extremely hot in September. The drive back to Shanghai was interminable and increasingly uncomfortable. Sadly, we would not recommend this trip. The day trip to Su Zhou is much better!

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	March 2009
If you visit Shanghai, you must visit Hangzhou. Although it is a long trip, it is worth it but I could see how some might think otherwise due to the fact that you're spending almost half of the time driving. The main reason I decided on this trip is the visit to the Meijiawu tea village where they specialize in dragonwell green tea. The tea from this region is not only difficult to find but extremely expensive outside of China it is still relatively expensive from the village as well. If you rented a car to visit, it would have cost more and you're probably going to get lost or into a car accident with the crazy driving going on in Shanghai.

Review by: Gretel B, United Arab Emirates	December 2008
Long drive but well worth it. We thoroughly enjoyed it and the scenery is magnificent especially West Lake. Tea Village is another recommended experience with genuine tea and reasonably cheap compared to central Shanghai prices. Well informed tour guide. Worth every penny.

Review by: Paloma A, China	August 2008
It's true that the trip by bus is very long, 2.5 hours, but it worth it. The places are amazing, really beautiful. The pagoda is incredible. I would like to spend more time there to go to the top of the building, later you go to the Tea Village. I loved learning everything about the different kinds of green tea and its properties, here I only bought one bottle of the very good tea for 300 RMB. Now I realize that I had to buy more because in Shanghai it is more expensive, the good one. And finally we went to the West Lake, now I understand the name 'Heaven on Earth', everybody should go there. Our guide was great, really friendly and helpful!!! He made the trip very interesting because he explained to us a lot of stories and legends about the places.

Review by: Anonymous, Switzerland	April 2008
In my opinion, we spent too much time on the lake and not enough to visit the pagoda. The guide was very good.

Review by: Apple K, Thailand	January 2008
Everything was good.

Review by: Jozsef L, Hungary	October 2007
Hangzhou and West Lake are marvelous places to escape from the hustle and bustle of Shanghai. I experienced paradise.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	October 2007
Very good!

Review by: Mohamed M, United Arab Emirates	May 2007
Very good tour, did not fancy driving in China or anywhere near Shanghai, so this was an excellent way to see some of the beautiful scenery around Hangzhou.

Review by: Vizbulite S, United States of America	April 2007
The trip was very pleasant. The guide and the driver were excellent. Hangzhou is lovely place to spend a leisurely Sunday afternoon. But West Lake reminded me of other places I had seen. When time is limited it is a difficult question, what to see and what not to see. Four hours have to be spent in transit to see a lovely but not entirely unique lake.

Review by: Anonymous, Australia	March 2007
Fantastic day trip - a must for people visiting Shanghai.

Review by: James G, United States of America	March 2007
Personnel did a great job. However, the weather was cool and cloudy. That diminished the otherwise excellent quality of the trip.

Review by: Garry E, Australia	March 2007
Worth doing but I was the only person on the tour and the tour guide, although personable enough, was a bit quiet and didn't seem to be enthusiastic. Maybe unavoidable for a single person tour.

Review by: Paul H, Canada	February 2007
This trip was good. I was lucky enough to be the only one on the tour, so my experience may differ from others. West Lake was very nice, but I would be hard pressed to call it 'Heaven on Earth'. It is definitely nicer than Shanghai, but it is still quite smoggy and crowded. The tea visit was nice, as was the garden. The lunch was pretty good as well. Still I enjoyed the trip it is a long time travelling about 3 hours each way.

Review by: Elaine K, Australia	December 2006
Unfortunately the weather was not good, as it rained all day and was very misty, which meant that it was not easy to see the scenery while we were cruising on the lake. It is a trip that I would like to do again in better weather.

Review by: Susan S, Australia	November 2006
A really incredible experience. A great tour with a very good tour guide. I would recommend this tour very highly.