Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang province, is the political, educational and cultural centre of the province. "In heaven there is paradise, and on earth there are Hangzhou and Suzhou" expresses people's heartfelt praise to this beautiful city. It is a transportation hub with a well-developed transportation system. You can get there by plane, train, boat and long-distance bus. All of them offer great convenience to visitors.

Getting there

◎By Plane

Hangzhou's main airport is Hangzhou xiaoshan international airport, situated in the guali town of xiaoshan district, about 30 kilometers away from downtown. The way you can get there are as the following:

Through go the Hangyong highway across Qiangjiang two bridge, then get down at Guali export. Also you can get there through go the Qiangjiang three bridge and the airport highway, about 40 minutes drive, costs about RMB 110-120.

You can take civil aviation bus at Wulin gate in downtown, one-way fares 25 Yuan/person.

Hangzhou xiaoshan international airport has many international and domestic flights with connections to all wind directions that can reach most cities of world:

International flights

Amsterdam, Delhi, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Osaka, Bangkok, Seoul, Singapore, and some other major cities in the world.

Domestic flights 

Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Guilin, Xian, Kunming, Chengdu, Hong Kong, and many other China cities.

◎By Train

Hangzhou is an important railroad junction in East China; the major railway station is Hangzhou station, which is commonly known as the city station, giving priority to with starting car. There are frequent high-speed trains connecting Hangzhou and Shanghai. Among them, there are 5 air conditioning tourist trains commute every day between hangzhou and Shanghai south railway station, travel 177 kilometers, the ticket price only 25 Yuan.

Tips: If your destinations are further away, such as Kunming and Urumqi, you would first want to go to Shanghai or some halfway-point train station. There is an East Train Station as well, but it is not in such a smart part of town. Trains returning from Shanghai often only stop here rather than at the main station. 

◎By Bus

Hangzhou is the center of the road network in Zhejiang province. It has four bus stations in east, west, south and north directions. If you are going to Shanghai, you will want the East Bus Station. If you are going to Huangshan, buses leave from the West Bus Station; Nanjing is served by a frequent service from the North Station.

◎By Boat

The service of overnight boat between Hangzhou and Suzhou/Wuxi has been discontinued. You can still take a ferry along the Hangzhou-Beijing Grand Canal to the north of Hangzhou proper.

Getting Around

◎By Bicycle

Bicycle is a very popular way. Several professional bike rental companies, as well as major hotels and some hostels, rent bikes on an hourly basis, details are as the following:

The Overseas Chinese Hotel

Located at 39 Hubin Road. Deposit 200RMB per Single car, 6 Yuan/hour. Deposit 500RMB per double car, 20yuan/hour. Rent time is about 8：00--21：00.

Zhongshan Park

It is located in front of the zhongshan Park in isolated hill, deposit of 300RMB per car, single car 6 Yuan/hour, double car 15 Yuan/hour.

Wanghu Hotel

Located on the lakeside six park (huancheng west road no. 2), deposit of 500RMB per car, 5RMB/hour. Limited to visitors who checking in the hotel, service 24 hours a day.

◎By Bus

Bus is a very convenient way to get around the city. There are plenty of bus types: 

Routes without a letter prefix generally have no air conditioning (though there are some exceptions, like route 900), and should therefore be avoided May-September. They are heated during the winter. These generally cost ￥1-2. 

Routes with a "K" prefix are air-conditioned May-September, and heated December-February. These cost ￥2-3, except when both the AC and heat are off, during which time the fare is halved.

Routes with a "Y" prefix are designated tourist buses, and will take you to or from a tourist destination for ￥3-5. Use Google Maps to check whether your bus drives to your desired direction.

Routes with a "B" prefix are part of the new Bus Rapid Transit system. These are articulated buses that stop at dedicated BRT stations, which allow you to transfer to other "B" routes without paying an additional fare. The fare of ￥4 is paid on entering the station. These buses are roomier than the usual municipal buses, but are not much more rapid. 

Night routes (which have blue signs and are numbered K2xx) are ￥2.5. Most start running at 9PM and end around 6AM.

Tips: there is no change in public bus, you must save enough change.

◎By Taxi

Taxi is also a good way to travel around. The starting fare of taxi is 11yuan (3km), 2yuan/km, after 8km, it will charge 2.4yuan/km.

Tips: short-distance can take human tricycles (starting at 5 RMB, each station 500 meters, 1RMB per station).

◎By Boat

Getting to the islands on West Lake, you get to choose between tourist trap Dragon or "Gaily-painted" pleasure boats (￥45 and ￥35). There are also medium-sized power boats (￥25), or for ￥160 you can hire a driver to paddle you around for about an hour. The boats are available in Hubin (1, 3, and 6) parks and other obviously marked areas all over the lake.