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10/16/2024

#Hangzhou, #Museum, #West Lake, #Huang Gongwang, #Liangzhu

I left on September 24, 2024 on a three-day trip to Hangzhou that cost about 2,000 RMB per person.

On the first day, I took a night flight from Beijing to Hangzhou, arriving close to midnight. I chose to stay overnight at the Hyatt Regency Hotel near the airport terminal, which is only about 150 meters walk from the T4 arrival hall and is very new and quiet. As some of my friends have said, it's a good choice for touring around Hangzhou, with easy access to bus routes and the subway.

The next day, I headed to the Zhijiang Hall of Zhejiang Museum as the real Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains was on display and counting down. It was about a 10 minute walk from the subway to the new Zhijiang Museum. It didn't look too crowded in the morning, but there was a bit of a line on the 4th floor for the Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains. Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains is Huang Gongwang's heirloom painting, in the process of circulation was destroyed by fire, now exists in two parts, the river museum is on display is the leftover picture, the other part of the useless teacher scrolls preserved in the National Palace in Taipei. The paper part of the painting is a little longer than A4 paper. Pavilion introduces Huang Gongwang part is very interesting, he was surnamed Lu, his parents died when he was young, succeeded to Huang Le as a son, Huang Le 90 years old eager to see his son, give him the name Huang Gongwang, the word Zijiu. Zhijiang Hall also introduces the history of Zhejiang, especially the achievements of the Ch'ien Ch'ien family, three generations of five of them governed Zhejiang for more than a hundred years, so that it became a rich place, handicrafts and manufacturing industries started early, but also to avoid the war turbulence, Ch'ien Ch'ien family of talented people.

Due to the last time in Hangzhou to choose the hotel failed, this time I tangled and chose the West Lake side of the Dahua Hotel. The place feels great, with a back door leading directly to the West Lake, convenient for West Lake WALK, and its own West Lake Cruise, great breakfast, good decoration and facilities, very clean, with parking lot and self-service laundry, except that the laundry is in a small independent house outside the main building.

On the third day, after breakfast I headed to Liangzhu Museum. First, I took the subway to Liangzhu Village and then took a taxi. The visit is free, no need to make a reservation, through the security check can enter, but at 9:30 in the morning manual interpretation has been full. However, the exhibition is very thoughtful, there are text instructions and video introduction, look carefully can also gain a lot. Liangzhu culture 4000 - 5300 years ago, unearthed lacquer ware and tools similar to modern times, Liangzhu ancient city of land and water integration, very advanced. The museum has 4 pavilions and can be visited in 2 - 3 hours, with cultural stores but no dining.

I had also stormed around West Lake 10 years ago, but this time I did a small circle around it again purely on foot, which took about 2+ hours. I appreciated the lakeside management of West Lake, with unmanned 24-hour service halls offering water drinks, coffee, ice cream and rechargeable batteries every one to two hundred meters along the walking path. In the morning I even ordered an inexpensive cup of coffee with good beans and room temperature options. There are also artificial stalls along the way at 300-500 meter intervals with milk tea, ice cream and snacks, and plenty of restaurants along the lakeside, making for a quieter environment.

Further out is the lakeside shopping district, which is very lively. It's really great that West Lake is able to bring clothing, food, housing and transportation all together in one place, well managed and with spending levels that vary from person to person.