This is the 3rd day trip we booked with Shanghai Private Tour for our quick 4 day trip from the USA to experience Shanghai, China. A truly amazing day!

Hotel pickup and van ride:

We met our guides a little before 8:30am in the hotel lobby. We showed up early and they were already waiting for us. This trip offers hotel pickup from about any hotel in the area (we were staying in the Bund area of town) which is great! The guides were super friendly and have great English language skills. The trip starts with a van ride to the train station. The van was extremely clean and well maintained. The driver was very professional and I felt very confident in his driving skills.

Train ride:

This was my first experience on a bullet train. You’ll go through basic security at the train station. Make sure to take your passport. The tickets were all purchased ahead of time by our guides, so the process was quick and painless. Zero time wasted going through security. The train station is very clean and nice. The train itself is modern and very smooth. It’s neat seeing speeds of 300 plus km/h (a couple hundred miles per hour) on the screen. The seats are comfortable and the train was one of the nicest I have been on. The train ride takes about 1 hour. We spent the time asking a lot of questions to our guides who were extremely knowledgeable about the many questions we asked.

West Lake:

Upon reaching Hangzhou, we were picked up by another van. Again, extremely clean with a very professional driver. The van ride takes about 15-20 minutes to get to West Lake. We started the actual tour at West Lake. It’s very scenic. We were lucky enough to get a boat ride around the lake. This took about an hour total. A very pretty area with many great photo opportunities.

Lunch and the tea farms:

We took a quick van ride from West Lake to our lunch spot. It was a clean restaurant with many food options. We picked a couple of dishes on our own and the guides recommended a couple of others. It is good food and we were happily able to try some new dishes. It’s great to be able to try new things. We ate lunch community style, which allows you to try many different types of food. After lunch, we got to hike into the area where the green tea is being farmed. It was really nice to be out of the hustle of Shanghai and be able to see some of the countryside and nature. There are some beautiful places take pictures in this area.

Ling Ying Temple:

Ok, this was the highlight for me. Easily the highlight. Make sure to wear some comfortable shoes and take some water with (bottles of water were provided to us by our guides). There’s a lot of walking and a lot of steps. It was in the low 30s Celsius when we were here (mid 80s Fahrenheit) and very humid. The tour of the temple starts with seeing the carvings of Buddha statues into the side of a hill. We’re not talking a few carvings, we’re talking hundreds. And they’re not small. This is a true work of art. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. After seeing the carvings we got to see the temple complex. Unlike the temples you’ll see in the heart of Shanghai, these temples are in a sprawling complex in the wooded hills. It’s a very picturesque place with many amazing views and many temples with many massive Buddha statues. Being here and seeing this was easily the highlight of my trip to Shanghai.

Hefang street:

We took a van ride from the temple to Hefang street. This is a road from the Qing dynasty. It’s a very old road with many shops. We spent about 25 minutes here. You’ll be able to try samples of many local foods. It was nice being able to try some of the local foods. If you’re a fan of beef jerky, make sure to try the dried pork. I thought it was really good.

Back to Shanghai:

We took a van from Hefang road back to the train station. From here, it’s a reverse of the morning. Bullet train back to Shanghai and a van ride back to the hotel. The whole day takes about 12 hours.

My thoughts:

This is the third day trip we did with this company and this was by far my favorite. Every tour we did was very good, but getting out of the city and seeing the temple was amazing and easily my favorite experience from our trip to Shanghai. It’s a bit more costly than some of the options but well worth the investment. Everyone with this tour company has been very professional, yet very fun and educational! If you’re in Shanghai for a few days, this should be one of your experiences. Very highly recommended!

Reviewed to: ‘Heaven On Earth’ Hangzhou Day Trip from Shanghai by Bullet Train