A 3-day trip to Hangzhou, mostly visiting places I’ve been to before: Nine Creeks, Longjing, and West Lake. The time flew by… On the second day, stepping out of the hotel put us right in Nine Creeks, so we walked along Nine Creeks Road up the mountain. Walking along, we eventually reached Longjing. This route was different from the one I took previously; this one is open to vehicles, with cars constantly coming and going, far less tranquil than the old stone path reserved solely for pedestrians.

Had lunch at Longjing No. 1. I’ve been to this restaurant countless times, but this time I noticed it had been renovated. The ambiance is better now, though naturally the menu has changed and prices have gone up quite a bit~~~ We still ordered their signature dishes, and the taste hasn’t changed at all. However, the affordable signature dishes now occupy only a tiny section of the menu…

Afterwards, we went to the Four Seasons Hotel by West Lake for afternoon tea. We sat in the outdoor seating area of the hotel’s lobby bar, overlooking the hotel’s infinity pool, with West Lake just beyond that~~~ The environment is fantastic, though I heard it gets very crowded on weekends.

On weekdays, they only serve the simple version of the three-tier afternoon tea~~ The premium version is available on weekends~~ But since we weren’t really hungry anyway, the simple version was satisfying enough~~

Dinner was conveniently settled at Ming Ren Ming Jia inside the hotel. Their special offer dishes are genuinely cheap… There are absolutely no restrictions on the specials, and more importantly, the taste is excellent and portions are generous… Plus… they even accept group-buying vouchers! It’s truly hard to find such high-quality yet affordable restaurants these days.

Lunch on the second day was at the Green Tea Restaurant flagship location, built right over the lake. The ambiance here is definitely the best among all Green Tea branches. Their famous ‘Beef Temptation’ dish has been revamped with added vegetables—which essentially means less beef—but the flavor remains unchanged. Actually, the texture feels a bit better with the veggies added~~~

After that, we spent the whole afternoon strolling along the shores of West Lake~~

Finally, we walked to West Lake Paradise and had tea at Wang De Chuan~~ Located within West Lake Paradise, this teahouse offers impeccable service, atmosphere, and flavor. Since tea leaves shouldn’t be steeped indefinitely, each pot is brewed according to standard timing and served without the leaves inside. You can get a refill, and you can even switch tea varieties when refilling~~~~

In Shanghai, only the Jin Mao Tower branch offers this kind of teahouse experience, but unfortunately, it only has four tables, making it feel a bit cramped with dim lighting. It simply doesn’t compare to the wonderful environment of this Hangzhou location~~

Finally, we walked all the way to the train station. For dinner, I had been looking for a place serving vinegar fish, but several renowned restaurants we passed along the way were all hosting wedding banquets and wouldn’t accept walk-in guests. So, we ended up randomly picking a restaurant with decent reviews~~ It’s called Gui San Qiu Western Restaurant. The decor is average, a mix of Chinese and Western styles, but the food was pretty good—the roasted lamb leg was delicious~~~

I visit Hangzhou almost every year, once or twice, but it’s getting more and more crowded. Many restaurants I originally wanted to visit have opened branches in Shanghai too, so now it’s mainly West Lake, Nine Creeks, Longjing, and places like that where I can still enjoy a leisurely stroll~~~~

Photos in this post taken with SONY NEX-5R + 16-50 f3.5-5.6, post-processed in Lightroom.

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Hangzhou Food, Hangzhou Tours, Jiangzhe Tours