Chinese Academy of Art Gallery

Offline map Google map (Zhōngguó Měishùxuéyuàn) This academy on the eastern shore of West Lake houses an excellent art gallery Offline map Google map (měishùguan; 9.30am-4.20pm Tue-Thu).

Qīnghéfáng Old Street Street

Offline map Google map (Qīnghéfáng Lìshi Wén­huà Jiē) At the south end of Zhongshan Zhonglu is this fun, crowded and bustling pedestrian street, stuffed with all manner of shops, stalls and gift shops while snacking alleys branching off from it swarm with diners. It’s an entertaining place to browse and there are several traditional medicine shops, including the atmospheric Húqìngyú Táng Chinese Medicine Museum Offline map Google map (Zhōngyào Bówùguan; 95 Dajing Xiang; admission ¥10; 8.30am-5pm), which is an actual dispensary and clinic. Huíchūn Táng Offline map Google map (117 Hefang Jie) is another delightful old medicine shop with a swallow’s nest inside, high above the entrance.

Hángzhōu’s Incredible Giant Wave

An often spectacular natural phenomenon occurs every month on Hángzhōu’s Qiántáng River, when the highest tides of the lunar cycle send a wall of water – sometimes almost 9m high – thundering up the narrow mouth of the river from Hángzhōu Bay at up to 40km per hour.

Sometimes sweeping astonished sightseers away, this awesome tidal bore (qiántáng jiāngcháo) is the world’s largest and can be viewed from the riverbank in Hángzhōu, but one of the best places to witness it is on the north side of the river at Yánguān, a delightful ancient town about 38km northeast of Hángzhōu. The most popular viewing time is during Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls in September or October, on the 18th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the International Qiántáng River Tide Observing Festival takes place. However, you can see it throughout the year when the highest tide occurs at the beginning and middle of each lunar month. The Hángzhōu Tourist Information Centre can give you upcoming tide times.

To reach Yánguān, take a bus (¥25, one hour) from Hángzhōu’s Jiubao bus station to Hainíng and change to bus 106 (¥8) to Yánguān; alternatively, take a bus from Hángzhōu train station (45 minutes) and change to bus 109 to Yánguān.

Lóngjing Village Village

(Lóngjing Cūn) Lóngjing Village is nestled away in hills southwest of West Lake. Everyone will want to sell you tea, but if you do buy some, do it for the novelty, because prices aren’t cheap. Buses 27 and Y3 run to the village from Beishan Lu and Nanshan Lu respectively.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14