Our Mission
Heavenly Hangzhou exists to be the most helpful, accurate, and comprehensive English-language guide to Hangzhou. When we started planning our own trips to this incredible city, we found the same frustration again and again: scattered information, outdated advice, and guides that skimmed the surface without ever going deep. We built Heavenly Hangzhou to be the guide we wished we had.
"Above there is heaven; below there are Suzhou and Hangzhou."
Chinese proverb: 上有天堂，下有苏杭 (Shàng yǒu tiāntáng, xià yǒu Sü Háng)
Why "Heavenly Hangzhou"?
For over a thousand years, the Chinese have described Hangzhou with one of the most famous sayings in the language: "Above there is heaven; below there are Suzhou and Hangzhou." Marco Polo called it "the city of heaven, the finest and noblest in the world." The name honors that legacy. Hangzhou is not just another stop on a China itinerary -- it is a place that has inspired poets, painters, and travelers for centuries. Our name reflects that deep cultural connection.
What Makes This Guide Different
Travel guides to China are not hard to find. But most are either glossy top-ten lists that tell you nothing practical, or sprawling forums where useful information takes hours to dig out. We set out to build something different:
Practical Detail
We tell you not just what to see, but how to get there, when to go to avoid the crowds, and what to expect when you arrive. Opening hours, ticket prices, bus numbers -- the details that make a trip smooth.
Honest Recommendations
We do not take payment for reviews or rankings. Every restaurant, hotel, and attraction we recommend is here because we genuinely believe it deserves to be. If something disappointed us, we will tell you.
Regularly Updated
China changes fast. Prices shift, restaurants close, policies evolve. We revisit our content regularly and update accordingly. Every page shows when it was last reviewed.
For Independent Travelers
This guide is written for people who travel independently, not for tour groups. We cover how to use public transit, navigate Chinese apps, and handle the everyday logistics of traveling in China.
Our Team
Heavenly Hangzhou is written and maintained by a small team of independent travel writers and Hangzhou locals. Our contributors have spent years living in and exploring Hangzhou and the surrounding region. Some of us call Hangzhou home year-round. Others have been visiting for over a decade. Between us, we have explored every corner of the city -- from the crowded shores of West Lake to the quiet tea villages in the hills beyond.
We are not a large media company, a tourism board, or a faceless content mill. We are travelers who fell in love with a city and wanted to build a resource worthy of it. Every page on this site was written by someone who has walked those streets, eaten at those restaurants, and gotten lost on those buses.
How We Stay Independent
Heavenly Hangzhou is funded through affiliate commissions. When you book a hotel through our link, reserve a tour, or subscribe to a VPN service we recommend, the partner company pays us a small commission at no extra cost to you. This allows us to keep the site free of display ads, sponsored content, and pay-for-play reviews.
We do not publish sponsored posts. We do not accept free trips or hotel stays in exchange for coverage. We do not let affiliate relationships influence what we recommend. If there were no affiliate programs for the services we use, we would recommend them anyway -- and we would find another way to fund the site. Our editorial independence is non-negotiable. You can read more on our Affiliate Disclosure page.
We Want to Hear From You
Hangzhou changes, and so should this guide. If you have discovered a great restaurant we missed, a viewpoint that is not in our guide, or a practical tip that would help fellow travelers, we would love to hear from you. If you spot an error, an outdated detail, or something that could be clearer, please tell us -- we fix things quickly.
Send your tips, corrections, and stories to hello@heavenlyhangzhou.com. We read every message and respond to as many as we can. Whether you are planning your first trip, sitting in a teahouse overlooking West Lake, or reminiscing after returning home, we would be glad to hear from you.