Job Discussion Forums

[dan]

Hello all
I'd like to learn more about hangzhou (weather, food, points of interest, people, expat scene, etc) so if you have any info, id love to hear it. I'd also like to learn about some reputable places to teach. Thanks a lot!

[MyTurnNow]

Good choice!

Weather: Winters cold but not bitter. Be prepared for cold _indoors_, though...many buildings in the region are not heated well if at all, are poorly insulated, and drafty. Summers be stank- hot and muggy. Very pleasant if rather rainy Springs and Autumns.

Food: Famous throughout China. Somewhat similar to Shanghainese but considered better by many- less sweet and more robust. Hangzhou claims to be the origin of the fabulous Beggar's Chicken, but then so do many other cities. It has a good representation of other Chinese and Asian styles as well as some decent Western restaurants.

Points of Interest: Big one- West Lake and its surrounding scenery/architecture, considered one of the most beautful and romantic spots in China by the Chinese. Starting to commercialize even more- theme parks and megamalls moving in. There is the attendant circuit of gardens, temples, etc. Hangzhou is a major draw of both domestic and international tourism...at least when the country isn't being ravaged by a killer virus.

People: Chinese.
To my mind people in the Shanghai/Suzhou/Hangzhou/etc. areas seem to be getting a bit more fun out of life than the average rather drab Chinese existence.
Even by the incredible Chinese standards, Hangzhou seems to have more than its share of exquisitely lovely women. Oh my oh my oh my. Boffo. A good one.

Expat Scene: My experience is limited here but seems OK. Plenty of Westerners, mix of teachers and business/technical types. Why, they got bars and everything!
Like Suzhou, not too far away in Jiangsu Province, Hangzhou seems to have more foreign touches and goodies than other cities its size due to the large numbers of turistas and grossly overpaid business people.

Old Chinese saying: "In Heaven there is Paradise; on Earth there are Hangzhou and Suzhou." Works for me...you can find much, much worse places to live than either one of them.

Hangzhou is an important city for both tourism and industry. Finding web sites with lots of purty pitchers and more detailed info will be easy!

Enjoy,
MT

[Seth]

I live in Hangzhou, but only for about a month so far. Downtown Hangzhou isn't much to look at, but the area where all the bars and coffee shops are is quite nice. The women are indeed beautiful but now you can't see them because they're all wearing face masks. Hangzhou is in the grip of the SARS panic, and my school has told us not to go downtown.
I've only been to one bar that had any foreigners in it, and I thought it was rather strange. Kana's or something like that. Watching creepy old white men dance with young Chinese women isn't my thing.
At any rate, I'm pretty much stuck in my school for the next several weeks, so no Hangzhou for me. So far it seems very nice, a huge step up from Luoyang. There are certainly worse places to be.
MTN, are you in Hangzhou now as well?

[MyTurnNow]

Not in Hangzhou but within relatively easy striking distance...at least if the trains are running.

Don't worry...it always takes a little while to find the cooler stuff in any new city here.

I kind of like the surgical-mask look. Accentuates those beautiful almond eyes.

MT

[gerard]

May I offer a dissenting opinion??? I went to Hangzhou for a day and a half and found it nothing to write home about. Every minute in China I was being asked "Have you been to west lake???" as if it was the 7 wonders of the world wrapped into one. Well I went. It seemed to me a smog encircled swamp surrounded by overpriced cafes. The center of the city seemed OK but only average by Chinese standards. The women are pretty now that you mention it but Zhejiang province is known for beauties anyway. I guess you could do worse but I won't be sending my reume off to schools in that city any time soon. But a day isn't much so there may be hidden charms I didn't catch...

[MyTurnNow]

You are not alone in that opinion, Gerard. I know others who share it.
I liked Hangzhou but was a bit underwhelmed by West Lake. But it is the point of interest there, and it sure brings in the tourists! It remains a major legend among the Chinese.

I liked Suzhou MUCH better than Hangzhou. But compared to some postings one could draw- Zhengzhou, Shenyang, Shijiazhuang, Changchun, Lanzhou, and many more come to mind- both HangSu cities _are_ paradise. IMHO.

[Seth]

I wasn't that impressed with West Lake either. It was OK but was a letdown after the way it's hyped by every single Chinese who hears the word 'Hangzhou.' It's indeed a polluted swamp, not really a lake. But compared to other polluted swamps in China, it's nice. It's surrounded by willow trees, which is my favorite tree. My unofficial tour guide showed me some of the restaurants around the place, and one place had 'Starving fish' where they'd literally starve the fish before eating it.

Hangzhou city is overrated by the Chinese because of that proverb MT mentioned. I still think it's pleasant place, but again I lived in Luoyang for a year. South-central LA looks nice compared to Luoyang. Here it's very green with trees all over the place, lush forests abound. It's not quite as clean and developed like parts of Shanghai or Guangzhou, but nice. I'll be happy here once the SARS hype dies down a bit, if ever.

[senor boogie woogie]

Hola!

I am currently living in Hangzhou, and I agree with what everyone has to say so far. I love hangzhou and would like to stay there for many years to come.

The Hangzhou people are mostly very nice and decent people. There are enough foreigners running around that people will not stare at you or even glance your way. But there is not too many foreigners here. This can be good or bad depending on your perspective, I like the lack of competition for teaching jobs and that I can pick and choose what I want to do. Also, not all foreign people are from an English speaking country. I know people here from Iceland, Eithiopia, and Mexico. I have met people here from all the livable continents on Earth. his is a college town, with many schools, most notably Zhejiang University. There are many foreigners studying here.

The shopping here is good, there are decent supermarkets where one can find most western goods (except deoderant of course). There are many clothing shops and shopping facilities. Of course, the West Lake Area should not be missed. The lake itself is OK, it is just a body of water. What is lovely is the land surrounding the lake. It is like one huge park that stretches many miles. There is also tea fields, mountains and many biking roads to visit. There is also a zoo here.

Public transport is good, I ride the busses all the time. There are many, many taxis here, they charge 10 RMB (about 1.25 USD) for a short ride.

The drawback to me is nightlife, this isn't Korea or even Shanghai or Beijing. The good discos are WaHaHa and Paradise Club at the World Trade Center Hotel. I go to the Raeggae bar, a popular place for foreigners and Chinese students. I go there because people are cool in there and the staff knows me, the music is good and the beer is only 15 RMB a quart (Becks). Kana's is a good club, Travellers and Kana's have a pool table. There is also bowling alleys and night markets to see and enjoy. Buy a DVD player here, because you can buy DVDs here for a dollar or less.

The only bad thing about Hangzhou is the weather. It is usually wet and gloomy in the winter, and very hot and humid in the summertime (bring deoderant!)

Now is a bad time, because of the SARS hysteria and also because they are tearing up many streets and buildings. (It looked good before, but Chinese can't leave well enough alone) Also, the ugly summer season is coming up which means mosquitoes, sweat, bare chested men, and air conditioning!

Please feel free to e-mail me when you get settled in.

SENOR

[taiwan boy]

There is a Chinese saying: su hang chu mei nu A basic translation is that there are lots of beautiful women in Suzhou and Hangzhou. When you meet a Chinese girl and she tells you she is from Hangzhou if you want to impress her you should reply guoran, guoran. It means "as expected" or "You're so beautiful it's obvious you must be from Hangzhou".

[Freaky Deaky]

I've been to Hangzhou a couple of times. West lake is pretty and there are some nice bars. The girls there didn't seem any better looking than in other parts of China. But - no wonder the Chinese rave about West lake - the rest of China looks like a toilet.

[arioch36]

hey mr.my turn now...What you sayin' about Zhengzhou! Don't you know we have the famed wall from the Shang dynasty??? True, I rode by it a doxen times before i realized it was more then just a rubbish heap from a demolished building. But sure enough, on my map of Zhengzhou...it says...major tourist attraction ...the Shang dynasty wall.

I think wherever most of us go, it is up to us to find what we are looking for. I went to the Badaling Great Wall next to Beijing because i have to, I have been in China for several years, and have never been. You're not a great man until you've been to the great wall. Now I've been. Yaaawwn! Tiananmen Square yaaawwwnn. Russian district, Brazilian steak, some reall russian music, outstanding. Hiking the local small hills...Yes!

West Lake? Yaaawnn. Temples and more temples Yaaawnn. Beautiful land and towns outside the city, yes, much nicer then Zhengzhou Henan


Best temple so far in China, about an hour west of Louyang, no western tourists, used by Buddhists and Daoists, on Wang wu shan.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you now what you are looking for you can find it much easier

[HappyTown]

You may well be underwhelmed by Hangzhou if you believe all that the Chinese (escpecially those hailing from Hangzhou itself) tell you about it. However, i think it is a really nice city, with the lake and lots of trees and some small hills right next to downtown...it's certainly preferable to the grim concrete nightmare that so many of China's other cities have become...

[frognation]

I am an hour outside HangZhou in the countryside. For me the best thing about going to HangZhou is knowing that I can stock up no cheese, butter, coffee and bread without loads of sugar.

Taking a taxi can be quite expensive though and also hard to get. West Lake, uuhh, what needs to be said has already been said, it is really that unimpressive. There are however some beautiful Temples around town.

I enjoy going to HangZhou if only to escape the boondocks for a day or two. Its so strange to see others foreigners for a change and also a joy not to be looked at. I can see why people are happy there.

Froggy

[frognation]

I am an hour outside HangZhou in the countryside. For me the best thing about going to HangZhou is knowing that I can stock up no cheese, butter, coffee and bread without loads of sugar.

Taking a taxi can be quite expensive though and also hard to get. West Lake, uuhh, what needs to be said has already been said, it is really that unimpressive. There are however some beautiful Temples around town.

I enjoy going to HangZhou if only to escape the boondocks for a day or two. Its so strange to see others foreigners for a change and also a joy not to be looked at. I can see why people are happy there.

Froggy

[frognation]

I am an hour outside HangZhou in the countryside. For me the best thing about going to HangZhou is knowing that I can stock up no cheese, butter, coffee and bread without loads of sugar.

Taking a taxi can be quite expensive though and also hard to get. West Lake, uuhh, what needs to be said has already been said, it is really that unimpressive. There are however some beautiful Temples around town.

I enjoy going to HangZhou if only to escape the boondocks for a day or two. Its so strange to see others foreigners for a change and also a joy not to be looked at. I can see why people are happy there.

Froggy