Day 1 West Lake, Leifeng Pagoda, Lingyin Temple, Hefang Street

After breakfast, your personal guide and driver will take you to the beautiful West Lake. As the incontrovertible icon of Hangzhou, West Lake is like a beautiful paint or a moving story that draws millions people every year. In a clear spring day, with all the birds flying around, grass growing everywhere, willows waving back and forth, lake water glittering under the sun, cruise boats flowing quietly on the water, and antique bridges and pavilions standing afar, you will feel deeply amazed. While in a hot summer day, what you will expect is a vast pieces of lotus flowers being gently swayed by the wind. With the autumn’s coming, leaves turn to yellow and less crowd will leave you a much peaceful mind. In the supposedly desolate winter, you will be surprised of the unyielding plum blossoming among the thick snow, creating a different fairyland. No matter when you visit, West Lake is always here to present its best shape. It’s recommended that you take a boat to experience the beauty of it.

Your next stop will be the Leifeng Pagoda. If you know the story about Bainiangzi and Xuxian, you will have heard of the Leifeng Tower. It was used to keep Bainiangzi from seeing her husband Xuxian. A sad love story indeed. If you go there, you will hear more about the story.

Have lunch at a local restaurant before your afternoon tour.

With some rest, you will head for the Lingyin Temple. Located nearby the West Lake, Lingyin Temple is one of the earliest Buddhist temples. It houses a lot of exquisite cultural relics from many dynasties, among which the words of “云林禅寺(Yun Lin Chan Si)” on the horizontal inscribed board of Heavenly King’s Hall were from Kangxi Emperor of Qing Dynasty. Meanwhile, you will also see a lot of ever-changing caves filled with Buddhist statues.

Lastly, you will have a leisure time wandering in Hefang Street where you will see over 100 stores selling a variety of Hangzhou local products like lotus powder, Hangzhou scissors, Hangzhou fans, Hangzhou cigarette, Hangzhou embroidery, local food, and oil-paper umbrellas. If you are interested, we can arrange you to DIY your own oil-paper umbrella in Hangzhou.




At the tour end, you will be accompanies back to your Hangzhou hotel.






    

Day 2 Wuzhen Water Town (1.5 hr)

After breakfast, you will set off to Wuzhen Water Town, one of the most reputable water towns in China. The single way journey is about 1.5 hours.

Dating back to 2000 years ago, Wuzhen still preserved the original landscape and layout of original water town. The whole town is connected by bridges with buildings rising up on both sides. Many old houses are still inhabited with residents and the wooden and the stone carves on the pillars, beams, doors and windows are still clear. You will experience a typical southern Chinese town composed of bridges, waterways and exquisite architectures. With the development of modern lightning, Wuzhen looks particularly charming in the evening. There are also many other sights like the Tang Dynasty ginkgo tree, Double Bridges, Xiuzhen Temple and best of all the Xishan Old Street, one of the best-preserved architecture complexes from Ming and Qing Dynasties. Lastly, Wuzhen is also the hometown of Mao Dun, a great master of Chinese literature. You will find the place where he used to attend school.




In terms of ways to visit this elegant small water town, we highly recommend you take a small boat to experience the true local life. After the tour, you will be escorted back to your Hangzhou hotel.






    

Day 3 Meijiawu Tea Village, Grand Canal

Today, your destination is Meijiawu Tea Village, a great place to understand and taste the world-famous Longjing Tea. This is a village with over 600 years of history and a major production area of Longjing Tea. You will see a vast piece of tea plantation. If you visit Meijiawu in spring, you will see a lot of people picking tea leaves. If you like, you can also be one of them. After strolling in the tea plantation, you may taste the true Longjing tea at a local farmer’s house, learn more about Chinese tea here.

Your lunch will be arranged in one of the local farmer’s house where you will enjoy a authentic farmer meal.

After lunch, let’s have a relaxing boat ride on the Grand Canal. The Hangzhou Section of Grand Canal starts from northern Yuhang Tangxi and ends in the southern Qiantang River with a total length of 39km. Along the canal are sights themed with canal and old streets, museums and the food streets. We recommend you take the water bud and enjoy the beauty of the canal.




Your three-day Hangzhou and Wuzhen tour comes to an end. You will be transferred to Hangzhou hotel.