Hangzhou Tour Group Horror Story - Don't Get Zapped!!!

[Johnathan Schmeler]

Sisters, be extra careful if you're planning to join a Hangzhou travel group! Don't step into the same pit that I did! #TravelWise #TravelAgency

• I signed up for a trip of three days and two nights after being enamoured by the scenic photos on Xiaohongshu (a highly popular Chinese photo-sharing app similar to Instagram, where many people share their beautiful travel pictures). My itinerary included Hangzhou, Wuzhen, Nanxun, and back to Hangzhou. These places are all famous sites in the Jiangnan Water Towns.

• Day one:

• We were picked up around 9:30 am at Hangzhou West Station (a major train station).
  • (We had paid a deposit and completed the final payment upon meeting.)
  • Now pay attention, ladies! This is the first pitfall!
    1. There was suddenly an additional insurance item in the contract, unmentioned beforehand, and they had made it mandatory! We were forced to buy it.
    2. In the contract, there were shopping spots included in the itinerary, which we didn't realize and only signed blindly at the time. After signing, regret followed us. Please make sure you thoroughly read and understand the contract before signing!
• Unfortunately, we didn't have any activities for the whole morning, only gathering around 2 pm to head towards Wuzhen (a well-known water town famous for its night view). It took about an hour by tour bus.
• The hostel (a small local inn) where we stayed in Wuzhen was substandard:
  1. There was no elevator, so we had to carry our own luggage up the stairs (I remember being in a place right next to "Inkstone Mansion Inn").
  2. We only got a tiny amount of shampoo and shower gel, not enough for two people.
  3. The air conditioner and lights were both broken!
  4. It was not only just a transformed apartment next to a busy street, but also noisy with cars moving all night long and passersby talking loudly that you could hear all their conversations clearly, making it hard for us to get quality sleep.
  5. And worst of all was dinner. We were barely served with some stir-fry potatoes, seaweed, egg custard, half of a roast duck and radish (This is the worst dinner I've had in my entire life!)
• After dinner, the guide led us to the entrance of the scenic spot of Wuzhen and left us to play by ourselves. (We arrived around late afternoon, around 4 pm; thus, we only saw the night view.)

• Day two:

• Rise at 6:30 am for breakfast.
  • What's for breakfast? Half a cold crispy fried dough stick (a kind of fried breadstick), steamed baozi (steamed bun), an egg, and a bowl of white rice porridge per person.
• Then, we headed towards Fo Yan Temple (a Buddhist temple where we listened to the tour guide, also as a way to express blessings). Morning was spent on listening to the tour and following customs.
• Despite having a little less than an hour of free time, it really felt rushed throughout.
• Lunch didn't feel so bad (it was considered one of the best meals during this period.)
• The next stop was Nanxun Old Town (another charming historical ancient town, but less popular than Wuzhen.)
  1. Visited Xiaolianzhai Garden (famous classical garden) and an old residence (I forgot its name).
  2. Again, tour guide commentary followed by only a brief 20 minutes of free activity time.
• The last stop of the day was Xitang Ancient Town (another renowned water town known as a filming site of the movie "Mission: Impossible – III").
  1. Sent us to Xitang’s hotel (the best hotel all along, with elevator and balcony!), then it's free time.

• Day three:

• Once again, rise at 6:30 am for breakfast.
  • Served buffet style but only white rice porridge, millet porridge, and eggs were warm! The rest (like steamed buns, soy sauce noodles, corn, everything were served cold and even the soybean milk tasted heavily watered down.)
• And let me introduce a huge pitfall – the shopping frenzy began!
• First stop was Lokes International Jewellery City (spent from 9 to 10:30 AM! That's close to 1.5 hours!)
• Then we had lunch (consisting of fish, potatoes, radish, eggs scrambled with tomatoes, mushrooms, yellow bean stewed pork, egg custard, taste average.)
• Next stop was Jintaihua Silk (stayed here from noon till 2:30 PM, it felt like over two hours!)
• Then off to Longwu Tea Plantation “Tea Tasting” (Hangzhou Longjing tea is world-renowned, however, that place is fundamentally another shopping spot, plus we only arrived there past 3:30 PM)
• After these places were done, it wasn't until 4:30 pm could we finally visit West Lake (renowned scenic area famously known as "above heavens' haven, below the Suzhou and Hangzhou.") and we took boat ride.
• However, I reserved my high-speed rail ticket at 6 pm, leaving no choice but to leave the tour early due to the lack of time.
• This travel agency only offered pick-up, not drop-off service to the railway station. I had to arrange transportation on my own!

• My feelings:

• The more picturesque attractions passed quickly without much time to take it all in.
• Shopping spots dragged on making our days seem unproductive.
• The desired West Lake ended up being another one of my unfulfilled wishes. Not as good as traveling independently by preference, where you can visit any time, stay however long you wish!

• To put things into perspective:

• Those small town night lights reflected onto the water indeed looked beautiful and impressive.
• Both spots in Picture #6 belongs to "Nanjing City Hongtuyun Travel Agency"!! Be cautious! Besides the meeting problems, many expenses and detailed trip plans were not communicated thoroughly beforehand.