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
Zhejiang
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 →More cities in Zhejiang
Sample itineraries
7 days
Add Putuo Shan (2 days from Ningbo), Xitang water town, Yiwu market for the curious, the Zhoushan seafood islands.
Dishes of Zhejiang
- Beggar's Chicken叫花鸡
A whole chicken stuffed with aromatics, wrapped in lotus leaves and clay, then slow-baked until the meat steams in its own juices.
- Drunken Chicken醉鸡
Chicken steamed and marinated in Shaoxing rice wine, served chilled. A Shanghai banquet starter.
- Eight-Treasure Rice八宝饭
A steamed dome of glutinous rice layered with red bean paste and decorated with eight types of preserved fruits and nuts.
- Hairy Crab大闸蟹
Yangcheng Lake mitten crab — the autumn delicacy of the Yangtze Delta. Eaten steamed with vinegar dip.
- Hairy Crab with Rice Cake年糕炒大闸蟹
Autumn hairy crab stir-fried with chewy Shanghai rice cake slices in a savoury-sweet ginger sauce.
- Lion's Head Meatballs狮子头
Large pork meatballs (the size of a lion's head) braised in clear broth with cabbage. A Yangzhou banquet centrepiece.
Itineraries touching Zhejiang
- Shanghai–Suzhou–Hangzhou triangle in 5 days
5d · Two days in Shanghai, a day and a half in Suzhou's classical gardens, then West Lake and Hangzhou.
- Vegetarian and vegan China in 7 days
7d · Hangzhou (Buddhist vegetarian temples) to Putuoshan (sacred Buddhist island) to Suzhou to Shanghai. A seven-day itinerary following the tradition of Chinese Buddhist vegetarian cuisine, with reliable meat-free and vegan options at each stop.
- Classical gardens circuit in 7 days
7d · Suzhou (Humble Administrator's Garden, Lingering Garden, Master of Nets) to Yangzhou (Geyuan, Heyuan) to Hangzhou. A focused circuit around China's most significant private garden tradition, pairing the UNESCO-listed Suzhou gardens with the less-visited Yangzhou examples and Hangzhou's West Lake landscape.
- Four Buddhist Mountains Circuit, 10 days
10d · China's four sacred Buddhist mountains in sequence: Wutai (Shanxi), Jiuhua (Anhui), Emei (Sichuan), and Putuo (Zhejiang) — each dedicated to a different bodhisattva.
Other East China regions
Verified May 2026
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