Journey to Nowhere

I’ve been to this hostel, so I am not bluffing here. Also, if it is a hotel that is intended for entertaining state leaders in China, that must be something. What I am talking about is the Hangzhou Xihu State Guesthouse (杭州西湖國賓館). As the name suggests, it is in Hangzhou, and Xihu means the most famous sightseeing spot of the city – West Lake.

west lake, hangzhou

Situated to the west of the beautiful West Lake, and surrounded at three sides by the lake, the hotel commands unparalled location. Its beauty lies not only in its furnishings of the hotel rooms, or the architecture of the buildings, but most importantly, in its garden area of 360,000 squre meters with quitessential Chinese garden designs. The garden dates back to the late 19th century and was redesigned by one of the most prominient Chinese architects Dai Nian Ci (戴念慈) in the 50’s, and remodified again in the late 90’s. The area of the hotel is dotted with willow trees, flowers, water, pavilions and bridges, evoking poetic lyricism. It has a gold course, a tennis court, a lakeside tea house, etc.

The hotel has entertained three most important figuers in the contemporary China – Mao Zedong (毛澤東), Deng Xiaoping （鄧小平）and Jiang Zeming （江澤民）. In fact, the hotel was not open to the public before. But since China’s opening up to the world, so is this hotel. So if you are looking to stay in a five-star hotel in Hangzhou, you should really consider coming to this hotel. It is much better than Hyatt, or other luxury hotels in the city. Because the hotel setting is so unique, not only in Hangzhou, but across China.

The hotel’s website:
http://www.xihusgh.com/ - for the full picture of the hotel, you must come to the Chinese website – content is a lot richer than the English website

You can make bookings through the hotel website, but it is not direct booking and there is no price showed. For direct booking, you can go to Ctrip.

The price ranges from RMB1150 to 2300 per room.

Hangzhou International Youth Hostel at the Nanshan Road (No.101-3 Nanshan Road) is very ideally located – just right at the side of the beautiful West Lake. Opposite is the famous China Arts Institute (中國美術學院).  Nearby, on the tree-lined Nanshan road, you can find good bars, teahouses, restaurants, cafes, museums and galleries.

You cannot find another youth hostel in the whole Hangzhou such nicely located. I was very impressed by the location when I visited it years ago.

The hostel is well run and has a nice garden and a tastefully decorated spacious living room. Room price ranges from US$4 in a dorm to US$ 18 for a single private ensuite. Some rooms have view over the West Lake.

You can book online here via Hostel World.

lou wai lou restaurant

“Lou Wai Lou” is Hangzhou’s oldest, most authentic and best restaurant. It is said any trip to the city must include a visit to this Hangzhou restaurant, if only to sample the great atmosphere of the place. The restaurant is located at the lake side and has great views over the West Lake. It is lit up like a beacon at dusk, a symbol of the restaurant’s superb status.

Address: Solitary Island, West Lake, Hangzhou

“Yao Bu De” restaurant is a specialty shop selling fried buns. The bun’s bottom part is slightly burned and crispy, while the upper part soft. The most interesting aspect is the bun is very juicy. When you take a bite, the juice, very hot, splashes in all directions from your mouth. You have to be careful and skillful eating it. That is why the restaurant is named “Yao Bu De’”, meaning not to bite. But then you find the whole eating experience memorable.

The making of such buns has a long history. It was said to be a favorite food of the Emperor of Gao Zhu in Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). In Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties, it became popular in the region of Shanghai, Hangzhou and their neighboring areas.

Address: Wen Er Road

Hangzhou, China

Coming to food, Hangzhou won’t disappoint you. In fact, Hangzhou cuisine is currently one of the most popular and fashionable styles of cooking throughout China. Many “Hangzhou” inspired restaurants have been opening up throughout the country and the cuisine from this city is considered to be of a superior status. The master poet Su Dongpo of the Song dynasty once wrote in praise that “there are no better banquets in the world than those in Hangzhou.”

Recipes here usually contain a great deal of seafood including fish, shrimp, crab and oyster. Its famous dishes are Beggar’s chicken (an entire chicken wrapped and slowly cooked in a ball of mud), West Lake fish (vinegar coated fish from the lake), Dong Po Pork (braised pork) and stewed shelled shrimp cooked in Dragon Well tea, the famous tea from Hangzhou area.

The great thing about eating in Hangzhou is the city has retained quite a few traditional restaurants serving authentic Hangzhou dishes. The dining experience in these places is fun and exotic. Here’s one:

Zhi Wei Guan

“Zhi Wei Guan” is a very old and famous restaurant in Hangzhou of 100 year history. It specializes in the local dishes and snacks, ranging from Won Ton soup and Xiaolongbao (small steamed pastries with rice), to noodles and desserts. The food is delicious and cheap, averaging about RMB5 to RMB10 for one dish. Xiaolongbao and Won Ton soup are among the most popular dishes.

How you order the food and pay for it is fun experience here. First of all, you will have to buy some tickets, with each ticket worth RMB1 (or RMB2 now with inflation?), and then exchange your tickets for any food you order at the counter. Behind the counter the staff is busy making all sorts of food, and at the same time serving customers the food they order.

There is constant movement in the restaurant, either in the kitchen area, which everybody can see, right behind the counter, or in the dining area where the crowd comes and goes. You can always sit and enjoy the food while watching the flow.

The eating ritual is not over yet. Before you go, you have to do one more thing. You return the unused tickets to the cashier in exchange for cash of equivalent value. Then you can walk away contentedly.

Add: 83, Ren He Road, West Lake

You probably do not know what osmanthus tree is. It doesn’t matter. But I can tell you it smells so wonderful when the tree is in blossom, producing a light, fresh and pleasing fragrance with its small yellow flowers. 

To experience this very delightful smell, you must visit Hangzhou in September. For osmanthus is the city flower of Hangzhou, which is one of China’s five osmanthus producing areas. The Manjuelong Village to the south west of the West Lake is the spot for smelling the tree flowers. There, more than 7000 ostmanthus trees are planted, with some 200 years old.

“Manjue” means complete enlightenment, a very beautiful name, hinting at the area’s historic link with Buddhism and temples.

The Osmanthus Festival is held in the area every autumn, where some colorful tents are set to serve tea and cakes made from ostmanthus flowers, with some game (like mahjong) tools provided for entertainment.

Because of the increasing popularity of the area, a big park called Manlong Osmanthus Rain has stood there since 2000.

There is public transport to the area of Manjuelong. Bus No 308, 324 and 508 reach the area.

If you don’t want to travel a bit far, then look no further than the city itself. You can smell it at many corners of the city, or just walk along the West Lake.

Manda School of Chinese, the first Chinese language school in Hangzhou, has disappeared. Strictly speaking, it has not disappeared, but whose name has been changed to Chinesetown Language Institute. Obviously, there has been major management overhaul. I notice that its website is very confusing. Just to cite some examples. Is its official name Chinesetown Language Institute, or Chinestown School of Chinese, as shown on its contact page? And look at the title on the home page “lean chinese in china’s best Tourist city”. Does the visual look strange to you?

Onto another Chinese language school in Hangzhou. A new language school emerges and it is Mandarin Capital. It was first set up in Beijing and now expands to Hangzhou. If you know of the quality of teaching of the school, do drop a note here.

The TEFL Academy is a private company in China whose main business is teaching English. It now expands into teaching Mandarin at Hangzhou. I mentioned the school before in this blog. It recently set up a new website, call itself great wall mandarin.

There are Nova Language Training Centre, and Babel Language Centre. As TEFL, their main business is teaching English but now they also offer part-time Chinese language courses to expatriates.

All the schools mentioned above are located in the yellow dragon area of Hangzhou. Nova and TEFL are even located on the same floor, and in the same building. Except Babel, all other schools are in modern office buildings with nice classrooms.

Yellow Dragon is a prime business area in Hangzhou – no wonder all the Chinese language schools crowd into the area. It is about 10-minute bike to the famous West Lake, and the third Starbucks in Hangzhou opened there in May 2006, a testimony to the rising importance of the area. The first two Starbucks are in the West Lake area.

For the contact details of the schools, check out the listing here. As for the quality and atmosphere of the schools, then you have to do your own research.