Private Hangzhou Day Trip from Shanghai by Bullet Train

West Lake, the heart of Hangzhou

West Lake is the reason most travellers take a Hangzhou day trip from Shanghai. Listed by UNESCO in 2011 as a cultural landscape, the lake is framed on three sides by wooded hills and crossed by long tree-lined causeways, with arched stone bridges, islands, pavilions and pagodas reflected in the water. For centuries it has inspired Chinese painters and garden designers, and its scenes still appear on postcards across the country.

With your guide you stroll a section of the shore and the causeways, stopping at the best viewpoints for photographs. A boat ride on the lake can be arranged by your guide on the day (it is not included), on a larger shared boat or a smaller one depending on the weather and the lake. Spring brings blossoms and fresh willows, summer the lotus fields, and autumn clear skies and the scent of osmanthus.

Longjing tea hills and village

In the hills west of the lake grows Longjing, or Dragon Well, one of China's most celebrated green teas, with its flat, jade-coloured leaves still roasted by hand in hot woks. Terraced tea gardens climb the slopes around Longjing village and Meijiawu, and in March and April you may see pickers at work on the first tender leaves of the year.

Your guide takes you up into the tea hills for the views and a calm break from the city, and the area is a pleasant place for lunch, which is not included and is paid on the day. Tell your guide your dietary needs: Hangzhou has halal (qingzhen) restaurants, and the historic Phoenix Mosque, one of the oldest mosques in China, stands near Hefang Street in the old town.

Lingyin Temple and Feilai Feng

Lingyin Temple, the Temple of the Soul's Retreat, was founded in the fourth century and is one of the largest and most visited Buddhist temples in China. Your ticket is included. Before the temple you pass Feilai Feng, the Peak That Flew Here, a limestone hill whose caves and cliff faces hold hundreds of Buddhist carvings made between the tenth and fourteenth centuries, including a famous round-bellied laughing Buddha.

Inside the temple, halls rise one above the other up the hillside among incense smoke and ancient trees. The Grand Hall shelters a seated Buddha carved from camphor wood, nearly twenty metres high including its base. Allow one and a half to two hours here. Lingyin is busy at weekends, which is where a private guide who knows the quieter paths really helps.

Leifeng Pagoda, Hefang Street and other choices

If you have already seen the classic sights, your guide can reshape the day. Leifeng Pagoda, rebuilt on its old foundations on the south shore of West Lake, offers one of the finest views over the water, especially at sunset. Hefang Street, below Wushan hill, is a restored shopping street of traditional shophouses, herbal pharmacies and craft stalls.

Further south, the Six Harmonies Pagoda has stood above the Qiantang River since the Song dynasty, with a wide view over the river and its bridges. Meijiawu tea village is a quieter alternative to Longjing. Talk with your guide on the train: this is a private Hangzhou tour, so the order and length of each stop are up to you, as long as the day fits the train times and roughly nine hours in total.

How to get to Hangzhou from Shanghai by bullet train

How to get to Hangzhou from Shanghai? The quickest way is the high-speed train, which covers the distance in about an hour, usually from Shanghai Hongqiao to Hangzhou East station. Your round-trip tickets are included, and your guide handles the ticket checks and passport controls at the stations, which can be confusing for first-time visitors.

On arrival in Hangzhou, a private air-conditioned vehicle takes you from sight to sight, so you do not need taxis or local transport. Bring your passport, as every train ticket in China is issued in the traveller's name and checked at the gates. Pickup is from hotels in central Shanghai between 08:00 and 08:30; travellers staying in outlying districts meet the guide in the city centre.