Ethiopian flies to Hangzhou, China 5 times a week.Hangzhou and Beyond

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While Hangzhou in Zhejiang province is one of the most visited places in the whole of China, its main attraction – West Lake – is so vast that you always somehow feel you have the whole place to yourself. The city sprawls along the eastern shore of the Lake almost as an

afterthought – but this is no ordinary afterthought! When the famous merchant-explorer Marco Polo visited Hangzhou in the 13th century, he referred to the city as “beyond dispute the finest and the noblest in the world”.

Hangzhou city pleases all the senses at once. Come nightfall, the shores of the Lake become a fairyland of lights. To stroll the lakeshore, with its pavilions, gardens and constantly changing water views, is one of life’s finest pleasures. And towering over West Lake overlooking the Qian Tang River, the Liuhe (‘Six Harmonies’) Pagoda, a striking octagonal structure built in the 10th century, dominates the skyline both by day and at night

The 12th century abbot of Liuhe Pagoda, Zhi Tan, was renowned for his ‘boundless beneficence’. This beneficence extended to rebuilding the pagoda – and as a result, the abbot is commemorated by a bronze statue unveiled in 1995. The pagoda also serves as a lighthouse for riverboats, and its spiritual power is even said to protect against tsunamis – though it is certainly hoped that this latter claim will never be put to the test.

Hangzhou was founded as early as the seventh century and became one of China’s six ancient capital cities. Later it developed into a major Silk Road terminus. Ever since then, silkworm cultivation and silk brocade weaving have been the major drivers of development, with both domestic and international tourism now hot on the development agenda.

Hangzhou and Beyond

angzhou is famous for its Westlake ... a source of beauty and pleasure, of poetry and literature and civilised persuasions.

Hangzhou and Beyond

Another good reason to come to Hangzhou is for its unique cuisine. As one of the eight classical culinary traditions of China, Zhejiang food revolves around seafood. In Hangzhou, various local ingredients, including bamboo shoots, are also widely used, with one of the most popular dishes being xihu cuyu (West Lake fish in vinegar). Other famous Hangzhou dishes include Dongpo Pork (with alternate layers of fatty and lean pork) and Beggar’s Chicken.

One of the finest places to enjoy these specialties is at the 100 year-old Luwailo Restaurant, at 30 Gushan Road, Solitary Island (West Lake), tel +86 571 8799 7416. Or try Shan Wai Shan Restaurant (8 Yuquan Road, Hangzhou Botanical Garden, tel +86 571 8790 6621) for its house specialty, Jingpin Babao Yutou Wang (‘Eight Treasures of Fish-head Soup’)

For shopping, a little-known part of town is Qing He Fang Precinct on Hefang Jie (near Wu Shan Square). The precinct contains many small shops dealing in traditional Hangzhou arts and crafts – such as paintings, silk products, animal horn combs, embroidery, etc.

One of Hangzhou’s most distinctive cultural attractions is Yueju (Yue opera, taking its name from the ancient Yue State). The popular Yueju troupe Xiao Bai Hua is famous for its modern renditions of Yue classics including The Chalk Circle, The Orphan of Zhao and The Lute. Try to catch a performance while in Hangzhou.

Hangzhou’s nightlife takes some beating. One of the most fun bars is Hong Feng Jiu Ba (formerly known as the BoYi Bar), at Yan An Nan Lu #24, close to Wu Shan Square. Hei Gen Jiu Ba (‘Reggae Bar’), at 95 Shu Guang Lu. Later in the night, Hangzhou rocks like a jelly in an earthquake, with Club Max and Club G Plus leading the action.

The construction of Hangzhou’s new subway is set to make getting around the city a lot easier. Line One, nearly 50 kilometre long and with 30 stations, is scheduled to be opened by late 2011. Altogether, a total of eight lines are planned.

Hangzhou and Beyond

Ethiopian flies to Hangzhou, China 5 times a week.Hangzhou and Beyond

But for those eager to explore beyond Hangzhou, an excursion to Shanghai is more than just a journey through history. While Hangzhou is playing a delicate juggling game trying to balance development with the conservation of its fine natural treasures, Shanghai seems intent on maintaining its title of the fastest-morphing city on earth. In my own case, I was looking forward to investigating the stark contrast between these two cities.

It’s possible to make the trip to Shanghai by railway (see sidebar). But for those with a little time, a road trip from Hangzhou to Shanghai is a far better option, as the sightseeing opportunities en route are just too good to miss.

On the Shanghai road, Xiashi is a city transformed by high-rise development, with an attractive tree-bordered plaza mitigating the somewhat stark effect of the modern buildings towering over it. The city has long been renowned for its coloured lanterns. These are mainly made of rice paper, intricately decorated and fastened together with lead wires.

But Xiashi is just a support act to the main star of the Hangzhou-Shanghai route – Wuzhen, on the Dong Shi River just off the Hangzhou-Beijing Grand Canal. Whether by accident or design, this town seems to have been dropped into its watery setting by a master town planner from another galaxy.

When the authorities opened up the 1,300 year old river village of Wuzhen to visitors in 2001 they were determined to avoid the tacky mix of tourist restaurants and kitsch souvenir shops that has swamped other estuary towns such as Zhouzhuang (which also lies in the Yangtze River delta). Wuzhen’s old buildings, an architectural symphony of stone, wood and tiles, have been preserved rather than restored, and lovingly maintained rather than tarted up. The result is a place that is a sheer joy to explore on foot. No fewer than eight stone bridges cross the Dong Shi River, the grandest of them being the Fengyuan Double Bridge, separated into two parts by a wooden sluice gate.

But now it’s from the sublime to the mundane. En route to Shanghai, the industrial city of Jiaxing is home to the world’s largest factory for fibre optic cables. Of much more interest to the average visitor, the ancient water town of Fengjing (about 40 kilometres north of Jiaxing) still buzzes with daily life. This 1,500 year-old town was the birthplace of the Jinshan genre of ‘Peasant Painting’, renowned for its innovative designs and bright colours. In Zhonghong town, 10 minutes drive from Fengjing, the Jinshan Peasant Painting Village has workshops where visitors can study the painting process in close-up detail.

Leaving Fengjing, it’s a drive of about 30 kilometres to Songjiang, a town that has now nearly merged with that huge sprawling megalopolis known as ‘Greater Shanghai’. Songjiang recently celebrated its 1,250th anniversary, with its roots going back even further to the Tang Dynasty; a column engraved with texts of Tang-era Confucian classics is one of the cultural treasures of the city. Some startling developments are now in place in Songjiang, with palatial houses and lush gardens replacing its former industrial waste-zones.

Joining the road into Shanghai, it takes seemingly forever to reach the ever-widening perimeter of the city. To break the journey, I make a stop at the ancient water town of Zhujiajiao, so peaceful and evocative in its watery setting that in my mind I’m drawn all the way back to Hangzhou. It’s difficult to believe that Zhujiajiao has become a suburb of what is now possibly the world’s biggest city.

Hangzhou and Beyond

And it doesn’t take long to discover that Shanghai has a huge amount of energy. The visitor feels captive to its spell. Now that Expo 2010 is over, getting in and out of Shanghai is not as difficult as it was during the Expo crowd-crush – but navigating the sardine-packed roads is still more than just a little bewildering.

However there’s always a sublime escape possible – namely, straight back to Hangzhou!

Getting to Hangzhou Ethiopian Airlines flies regularly to Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (HGH). The airport is about 30 kilometres from downtown Hangzhou. The new metro service should cut travel time between the city and the airport to well under 15 minutes.

Getting Out of HangzhouTrains run nearly hourly from Hangzhou to Shanghai Railway Station, the trip taking between 45 minutes (for the super-fast express) to about three hours. From 2014, the trip will take less than half an hour, on the Hangzhou-Shanghai Maglev Train (with construction scheduled to start this year, 2011). The new train will reach speeds of 450 kilometres per hour, with the 170 kilometre trip from Hangzhou to Shanghai scheduled to take just 27 minutes.

Ethiopian flies to Hangzhou, China 5 times a week.Hangzhou and Beyond

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sel routemap July2010.pdf 5/24/10 9:24:58 AM

Yaoundé

Vancouver

San Francisco Colorado Springs

DenverOmaha

KansasCity

KlahomaCity

Minneapolis

Chicago

St. Louis

IndianapolisDayton

TorontoDetriot

Ottawa

Cleveland

RochesterSyrac.

Columb.CincinnatiBashville

Memphis

AtlantaNewOrleans Orlando

Fort Lauderdale

HavanaMiami

Tampa

Jacksonville

Little Rock

Montréal

Quebec

Portland

Washington D.C.Norfolk

Columbia

Boston

Las Vegas

San Antonio

Dallas

Houston

AlbuquerquePhoenixTucsonSan

Diego

OntarioSan José

Los AngelesSanta Ana

Seattle

Portland

Salt Lake City

Douala

AbujaOuagadougou

Lubumbashi

Bangui

N‘Djamena

Brazzaville

Kinshasa

Luanda

Pointe Noire

Lagos

NiameyKano

New YorkPhiladelphia

Bamako

Monrovia

Dakar

LoméAccra

Abidjan

Libreville

Malabo

Bujumbura

Kigali

Entebbe

KilimanjaroMombasa

Zanzibar

Dar es SalaamDodoma

Lusaka

Windhoek

Gaborone PretoriaMaputo

MbabaneJohannesburg

Maseru Durban

Cape Town

Lilongwe

Harare

DireDawa

Asmara

Jeddah

Cairo

Tel Aviv

Palermo

Rome

Geneva

Paris

FrankfurtBrussels

Amsterdam

Oslo Helsinki

Stockholm

London

Milan

Beirut

AlexandriaKuwait

DubaiBahrain

Riyadh Muscat

Mumbai(Bombay)

Kolkata(Calcutta)

Yangon(Rangoon)

Bangkok

Vientiane

Hong Kong

Hangzhou

Shanghai

Beijing(Peking)

Manila

Jakarta

Haiphong

Guangzhou(Canton)

New Delhi

Djibouti

Khartoum

ADDIS ABABA

Sanáa

obiNair

Ethiopian Airlines, with more than 65 years’ operational experience, is today one of the world’s leading airlines: efficient, successful, and highly re-garded not only within Africa but around the world. The airline has grown steadily over the years and now connects millions of travellers with more than 60 international destinations worldwide. It also flies to more destinations in Africa than any other airline.

With its headquarters at Bole International Air-port Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Airlines is the national flag carrier, making Ethiopia one of Africa’s most accessible countries. Because of the country’s chal-lenging terrain, the airline’s domestic route network is one of the fastest ways to discover the mysterious yet enchanting land of Ethiopia.

Ethiopian Airlines regularly receives accolades and awards from the travel industry, and continues to up-grade its services and products to meet international standards and, more specifically, the needs of its customers. At present, it operates one of the most up-to-date fleets in the world. It is, indeed, Africa’s World Class Airline – the New Spirit of Africa!

The New Spirit of Africa

Hangzhou and Beyond

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South PacificOcean

South AtlanticOcean

North AtlanticOcean

Indian Ocean

INTERNATIONAL ROUTE MAP Ethiopian Destinatio

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ns Destinations with Special Agreements

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sel routemap July2010.pdf 5/24/10 9:24:58 AM

Yaoundé

Vancouver

San Francisco Colorado Springs

DenverOmaha

KansasCity

KlahomaCity

Minneapolis

Chicago

St. Louis

IndianapolisDayton

TorontoDetriot

Ottawa

Cleveland

RochesterSyrac.

Columb.CincinnatiBashville

Memphis

AtlantaNewOrleans Orlando

Fort Lauderdale

HavanaMiami

Tampa

Jacksonville

Little Rock

Montréal

Quebec

Portland

Washington D.C.Norfolk

Columbia

Boston

Las Vegas

San Antonio

Dallas

Houston

AlbuquerquePhoenixTucsonSan

Diego

OntarioSan José

Los AngelesSanta Ana

Seattle

Portland

Salt Lake City

Douala

AbujaOuagadougou

Lubumbashi

Bangui

N‘Djamena

Brazzaville

Kinshasa

Luanda

Pointe Noire

Lagos

NiameyKano

New YorkPhiladelphia

Bamako

Monrovia

Dakar

LoméAccra

Abidjan

Libreville

Malabo

Bujumbura

Kigali

Entebbe

KilimanjaroMombasa

Zanzibar

Dar es SalaamDodoma

Lusaka

Windhoek

Gaborone PretoriaMaputo

MbabaneJohannesburg

Maseru Durban

Cape Town

Lilongwe

Harare

DireDawa

Asmara

Jeddah

Cairo

Tel Aviv

Palermo

Rome

Geneva

Paris

FrankfurtBrussels

Amsterdam

Oslo Helsinki

Stockholm

London

Milan

Beirut

AlexandriaKuwait

DubaiBahrain

Riyadh Muscat

Mumbai(Bombay)

Kolkata(Calcutta)

Yangon(Rangoon)

Bangkok

Vientiane

Hong Kong

Hangzhou

Shanghai

Beijing(Peking)

Manila

Jakarta

Haiphong

Guangzhou(Canton)

New Delhi

Djibouti

Khartoum

ADDIS ABABA

Sanáa

obiNair