I’m grateful for a week of warm sunshine in April, and also thankful that the Kaiyuan Group happened to be running a promotion. After browsing online for a while, I decided to book this couple’s package at the Shaoxing Dayu Kaiyuan. The package costs 690 yuan and includes one suite, a dinner for two, a buffet breakfast, two tickets to the Yu the Great Mausoleum, and two tickets to the Cherry Blossom Garden. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anyone to go with, so I had to go by myself~~~~ Fortunately, traveling solo has its own unique pleasures.

I departed from Hongqiao Railway Station on the morning of the 10th. The weather was beautiful, and I took this photo in the waiting hall:

Shaoxing is slightly farther than Hangzhou. There aren’t many trains to Shaoxing, and only D-trains are available—no G-trains. It takes two hours to get from Shanghai Hongqiao to Shaoxing. D-trains are really affordable; a first-class seat is only 77.5 yuan, whereas a G-train would cost twice as much. Shaoxing Railway Station is quite small, and ticket checks at entry and exit are still done manually—a nostalgic experience I hadn’t had in a long time.

After lunch, I took a car to the hotel. It’s located in the southern part of Shaoxing, adjacent to Kuaiji Mountain and the Yu the Great Mausoleum. With mountains behind it and water flowing through, the surroundings are lovely. However, there’s a highway right in front of the hotel with lots of heavy trucks and no sidewalk, making it quite dusty. So, this place is fine if you’re driving, but otherwise, you’ll just have to put up with it.

As soon as you enter the hotel gates, electric carts are available to take you around. The property is quite expansive, so here’s a map:

It’s relatively rare to see an entire village purchased and converted into a hotel. There’s a river running through the property, and the original architectural style has been preserved, making it essentially an ancient water town. You can even take a ride on a traditional black-canopy boat, and there are very few people around… The hotel has about six restaurants and fewer than 100 rooms. Each room is basically a standalone cottage, or sometimes two rooms share one cottage, but each has its own private entrance, ensuring no disturbance between guests.

Upon entering the hotel, I was taken directly to the lobby by electric cart. Behind the lobby is the restaurant, and opposite it is the black-canopy boat dock.

Here are some photos taken within the hotel:

The hotel features a Chinese restaurant, a café, a teahouse, and this creative boutique shop run in collaboration with the China Academy of Art, called Mr. Shop. It mainly serves coffee and milk tea, as well as art pieces, and offers outdoor seating in a pleasant environment.

Guest rooms will be covered in the next post. Photos in this post were taken with a SONY NEX-5R + 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 / 35mm f/1.8, and post-processed in Lightroom.

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Hotel, Jiangzhe Tours, Kaiyuan, Shaoxing Tours