3 days
Day 1: Hangzhou West Lake circuit + Lingyin Temple. Day 2: Longjing tea villages + Hefang Street. Day 3: Wuzhen water town overnight.
Province · East China
浙江省 · Zhèjiāng Shěng — capital Hangzhou, zhejiang (light, fresh, seafood-leaning, hangzhou's west lake fish, ningbo's tang yuan).
History & character
Zhejiang has long been the model of Chinese commercial enterprise. Hangzhou served as the Southern Song capital (1127–1279) and was, by Marco Polo's account, the largest city in the world at the time. Its Grand Canal terminus, West Lake landscape, Longjing tea hills, and Buddhist temples (Lingyin, Jingci) define the city.
Ningbo to the east has been a commercial port for over 1,000 years and is now China's second-busiest container port after Shanghai. Wenzhou in the south is famous for its trader diaspora — Wenzhounese merchant communities exist in Italy, France, Spain, the UK, and across Southeast Asia. Yiwu hosts the world's largest small-commodities wholesale market.
The province's hill towns and water towns — Wuzhen, Xitang, Nanxun — preserve canal-side architecture. Putuo Shan, an island off Ningbo, is one of the four sacred mountains of Chinese Buddhism. The Zhoushan archipelago is a major fishing and seafood centre.
When to visit
Late March to early May for tea harvest and West Lake spring. October–November for autumn light. Avoid late June plum rain and August–September typhoon season on the coast.
How to get there
Hangzhou Xiaoshan (HGH), Ningbo Lishe (NGB), and Wenzhou Longwan (WNZ) are the main airports. HSR from Shanghai to Hangzhou 45 min, to Ningbo 2h, to Wenzhou 4h.
Key cities
All cities →Key attractions
All attractions →Sample itineraries
Day 1: Hangzhou West Lake circuit + Lingyin Temple. Day 2: Longjing tea villages + Hefang Street. Day 3: Wuzhen water town overnight.
Add Putuo Shan (2 days from Ningbo), Xitang water town, Yiwu market for the curious, the Zhoushan seafood islands.
Dishes of Zhejiang
A whole chicken stuffed with aromatics, wrapped in lotus leaves and clay, then slow-baked until the meat steams in its own juices.
A Jiangsu-province variation of clay-baked chicken with a lotus-leaf wrap and a mushroom and pork stuffing.
China's most celebrated green tea — pan-fired flat leaves from Hangzhou's West Lake district with a sweet, chestnut flavour.
Chicken steamed and marinated in Shaoxing rice wine, served chilled. A Shanghai banquet starter.
A steamed dome of glutinous rice layered with red bean paste and decorated with eight types of preserved fruits and nuts.
Yangcheng Lake mitten crab — the autumn delicacy of the Yangtze Delta. Eaten steamed with vinegar dip.
Itineraries touching Zhejiang
10d · China's four sacred Buddhist mountains in sequence: Wutai (Shanxi), Jiuhua (Anhui), Emei (Sichuan), and Putuo (Zhejiang) — each dedicated to a different bodhisattva.
10d · Ten days through three of China's most significant tea-growing regions: Longjing (Dragon Well) green tea in Hangzhou, Wuyi rock oolong in Fujian, and Pu'er aged tea in Yunnan — each with its own landscape and tea-house culture.
12d · China's finest classical gardens in sequence: Suzhou's UNESCO garden quartet, Hangzhou's West Lake landscape, Yangzhou's slender garden tradition, and Shaoxing's canal-town context.
14d · Fourteen days across eastern and central China using only high-speed rail — no domestic flights. A lower-carbon alternative that also provides a closer view of the country at ground level.
Spotted something out of date? Submit a correction.
Research
Cross-checked against primary sources
Verified
Address, hours, fees confirmed at the date shown
Updated
Re-verified periodically; corrections welcome