Shanghai + Hangzhou: skyscrapers and a lake that had poems written about it
An hour by fast train separates China's most modern city from the place the Chinese have considered the standard of beauty for centuries.
Why add Hangzhou
Shanghai impresses quickly: the Bund, the towers of Pudong, the former concessions — and by day four it starts repeating. Hangzhou, an hour away, is the opposite: West Lake with its causeways, pagodas and willows, tea plantations on the hills and a temple more than fifteen hundred years old. In the Chinese tradition this place is called the model of landscape, and after Shanghai you see why.
Shanghai: four days
The Bund with colonial buildings on one bank and futuristic Pudong on the other, both lit at night. The Yu garden in the old town. The former French Concession with plane trees and villas — the best district for a walk without a plan. The Shanghai Museum with bronzes and ceramics. Viewing decks in the Shanghai Tower or the «bottle opener». And an hour away, water towns such as Zhujiajiao with canals and bridges.
Hangzhou: three days
West Lake is walked or cycled around: the Su causeway, the island of Three Pools, the Leifeng pagoda at sunset. The Lingyin temple with grottoes and buddhas carved into the rock is active and very large. The village of Longjing, where China's most famous green tea grows: they show how it is pan-fired by hand and let you taste different pickings. Plus the National Tea Museum if the subject grabs you.
The train
Fast trains between the cities run every few minutes and take about an hour. Tickets are bought against your passport and boarding works like an airport, with security. This is the simplest way to move around China and it beats domestic flights over any distance up to a thousand kilometres.
When to go
March–May and September–November. Summer in the Yangtze delta is stifling and humid, and typhoons arrive in August. Winter is damp and raw, and buildings traditionally have no heating. Autumn is the best season: dry, warm, and in October the osmanthus flowers and all of Hangzhou smells of it.
Water towns of the delta
Around Shanghai several towns on canals have survived, seven or eight centuries old. Zhujiajiao is the nearest, an hour by bus — bridges, boats, narrow streets, and crowded at weekends. Tongli and Wuzhen are further but more complete; in Wuzhen the lights come on in the evening and lantern-carrying boats move along the canals. The format is simple: arrive in the morning, walk it in three or four hours, eat something local and return. Wuzhen combines well with Hangzhou — it sits exactly between the two cities.
Daily life for a foreigner
Almost everything is paid for by phone: link a card to WeChat Pay or Alipay in advance, at home, because doing it on the spot without a Chinese number is harder. Taxis are called through an app, which also translates the address. High-speed trains are booked against your passport, and at the station leave time for security and the manual document check for foreigners. A camera-based translator is the main tool: menus and signs are rarely duplicated in English outside central Shanghai.
What to sort out first
Visa-free entry for Russian citizens has applied since 15 September 2025 — up to 30 days per visit; check the rules before buying tickets. The main practical point: familiar foreign services are unavailable in China without workarounds, and payment is nearly all by QR — link a card to WeChat Pay or Alipay in advance, as foreign cards are now accepted. Cash works too, though nobody has used it for years.
Moscow → Shanghai → Hangzhou
Route and nights go into the form — adjust the date and passengers.