GEO Symposium and ODOK Workshop 2024

Places to see in and around Hangzhou

Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City (UNESCO World Heritage)

The archaeological ruins of Liangzhu (about 3,300-2,300 BCE) reveal an early regional state with a unified belief system based on rice cultivation in Late Neolithic China. The property is composed of four areas – the Area of Yaoshan Site, the Area of High-dam at the Mouth of the Valley, the Area of Low-dam on the Plain and the Area of City Site. These ruins are an outstanding example of early urban civilization expressed in earthen monuments, urban planning, a water conservation system and a social hierarchy expressed in differentiated burials in cemeteries within the property.​

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West Lake​ (UNESCO World Heritage)

West Lake is undoubtedly the most famous Hangzhou place to visit, and a Hangzhou must visit. The lake scenery is charming in all seasons, including rippling water, green willows in spring, pink lotus flowers in summer, red leaves in autumn, pure white snow scenery in winter, and abundant historical relics scattering around it. In addition to strolling, one can take a boat to cruise on the vast lake or rent a bike to cycle around it.​

The West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou, comprising the West Lake and the hills surrounding its three sides, has inspired famous poets, scholars and artists since the 9th century. It comprises numerous temples, pagodas, pavilions, gardens and ornamental trees, as well as causeways and artificial islands. These additions have been made to improve the landscape west of the city of Hangzhou to the south of the Yangtze river. The West Lake has influenced garden design in the rest of China as well as Japan and Korea over the centuries and bears an exceptional testimony to the cultural tradition of improving landscapes to create a series of vistas reflecting an idealised fusion between humans and nature.

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Xixi National Wetland Park

Xixi National Wetland Park is a natural wetland in the west of Hangzhou.  You can take an old-timey boat to see the causeways, lush vegetation and traditional houses on the banks. After going ashore, you can take a stroll in the classical gardens and taste delicious local food in the restaurants. 

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Longjing Village​

Famous for the local specialty Longjing Tea, Longjing Village is encompassed with large areas of tea trees. There, you could see the terraced fields being covered by tea trees layer upon layer, like a waving green ocean. In addition to appreciate the beautiful scenery, visitors can try to pick tea leaves and make tea on their own and taste the freshly made Longjing Tea. Longjing Village is very close to West Lake to the south, so you could go there after visiting West Lake.​

Lingyin Temple

Located by the West Lake, Lingyin Temple is one of the most famous Buddhist temples in China welcoming endless people to pray for blessings. Even if you are not a Buddhist, in this Hangzhou places to visit, you can appreciate ancient stone pagoda, pattra-leaf scriptures, old Buddha statues, carvings, etc. On the back hill, you would see diverse grottoes with various ancient Buddhist statues, which is rare to see in Hangzhou even southern China. ​

Zhejiang Provincial Museum

Zhejiang Provincial Museum is included in the places to go in Hangzhou for it is the largest museum in Zhejiang housing more than 100,000 pieces of relics, including unearthed remains of Hemudu Site, jade wares, celadons, Buddhist wares, ancient mirrors, ancient coins, paintings, lacquerwares, etc. It is the best place to learn local history and culture. It has several venues and in the Gushan venue near West Lake, you can see the artworks and the traditional garden. In the Wulin venue, you may see more collections and more precious treasures.​

Qinghefang Ancient Street

Qinghefang Ancient Street has been the busiest commercial area in Hangzhou for long. It was once close to the imperial palace in Southern Song Dynasty (1127 - 1279 AD), but what you can see at present is what it was like in late Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911 AD). The traditional style architecture will make you feel like traveling through time to the past. Many of the architecture are used as shops selling local snacks, antiques, old paintings, and so on. So, in addition to appreciating the old architecture in this place to visit in Hangzhou, you can try some traditional pastries and buy some featured souvenirs.​

Song Dynasty Town

Hangzhou was the capital of China in the Southern Song Dynasty, and Song Dynasty Town is a retro town bringing you back to that golden age. You may stroll on the street to feel what the ancient China town was like. Besides, there are many performances showing you the interesting folk customs back then. At the Time Travel Park, you could see the single girls choosing their bridegrooms by throwing embroidered balls, and people in traditional costumes playing flash mob. Among all the shows and performances, the “Show of Songcheng” is the most wonderful. With so many surprising things to experience, Song Dynasty Town is absolutely one of the top Hangzhou places to visit.​

Nanxun Water Town

Nanxun Water Town is one of the best water towns in China keeping the appearance of Ming (1368 - 1644 AD) and Qing Dynasties well, so it is recommended as one of the top places to visit in Hangzhou. What’s more, it’s quite rare as some houses were constructed in both Chinese and western style, such as the former residence of Zhang Shiming, which holds the stained glass, latticed windows and arched doors from French. Visitors are highly recommended to take a boat to appreciate the buildings as well as the natural sceneries at a leisurely pace.

Moganshan Scenic Area

Moganshan Scenic Area, considered to be one of the top resorts in China, is around 60 km north of Hangzhou itself. It is an expat retreat, perfect for hiking or a relaxing weekend getaway. It is a paradise for the residents who spend their days hiking around the bamboo forests, playing tennis, and cooling off in the mountain streams and swimming pools.All have something different to offer and are worth visiting depending on how much time you have.​

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Deqing Geographic Information Town​

With a planned core area of 1.31 square kilometers, it aims to emerge as an international geographic information industrial cluster.It has attracted more than 430 geographic information enterprises, its total revenues stood at 30 billion yuan (4.2 billion U.S. dollars). An industrial chain covering data acquisition, processing, application and services has been succeeded, making the town a source of entrepreneurial innovation of geographic technology.