Shangcheng Old Town

Shangcheng (literally "Upper City") was the imperial residence quarter of the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), which made Hangzhou — then called Lin'an — its capital after the loss of the north to the Jurchen Jin. The city's growth from a regional trade port into the largest city in the world during the 13th century happened in this quarter.

Imperial Street (Yu Jie) was the broad processional avenue running north-south through the imperial city. Excavations conducted from the 2000s exposed substantial sections of the original cobbled street and adjacent foundations; the modern Imperial Street site is open to visitors as an archaeological-park hybrid, with explanatory pavilions over the most significant excavations.

Hefang Street — running east from Yan'an South Road towards the lake — is a pedestrian shopping street developed on the lines of a Qing dynasty merchant quarter. The architecture is substantially restored or reconstructed rather than original, but the small businesses are partly authentic: traditional medicine shops, scissor-makers, fan workshops, calligraphy supply shops. The Hu Qing Yu Tang Chinese Medicine Museum and Pharmacy at the eastern end is a working pharmacy, founded in 1874 by Hu Xueyan, that doubles as a museum of traditional Chinese medical practice.

The Hangzhou Confucian Temple, immediately north of Hefang Street, is one of the smaller surviving prefectural-level Confucian temples in southern China. It hosts modern Confucian-revival ceremonies on Confucius's birthday in late September.