点评:A 30 minute, ¥35 taxi ride took us from our hotel (see TA review for Vienna Hotel Hangzhou West Lake Qingchun Road). The taxi dropped us right at the beginning (East Gate) of He Fang (River Lane) Street.
As we expected the street was busy, not heaving but there were plenty of tourists. Thankfully, the street is devoid of electric scooters and bicycles, so we were able to meander along the street without having to dodge them.
It’s the usual ‘old’ street for tourists with plenty of snack shops, noodle bars, and souvenir ‘tat’ shops. There’s a copper museum where there’s a lot of bronze, and the souvenirs are rather pricy. Further along, there’s also a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) pharmacy store which my wife regarded as not very good.
After strolling along the full length of the street we turned around and retraced our steps and after about 100 metres turned right into Dajing Alley. The change was dramatic from a busy street to a quiet lane. Mostly coffee shops, snack bars, art galleries, and clothes boutiques. We put our heads into the No. 1 well of Qiantang house and lamented that Zhang Xiaoquan’s scissors store was closed.
At the end of Dajing Alley there’s an impressive Drum Tower which if you have enough energy you can climb. The area around the Drum Tower has been developed and is very impressive.
As we passed through the drum tower my wife said she was rather peckish and said something to eat was essential to keep her going. On the right she spied a dumpling shop (Drum Tower Jianbao Cauldron), and we were promptly seated and served with dumplings, dumplings in soup, and noodles in soup which my wife rated as good, which is a compliment not given lightly.
With her appetite was sated, my wife announced a visit to a medicine man’s former residence, so off we set to find the Hu Xueyan’s old house (TA review for Former Residence of Xueyan Hu) which was only a short walk across a couple of roads away.
翻译:从酒店(详见TripAdvisor上维也纳酒店杭州西湖青春路店的点评)打车,大约30分钟,花了35元人民币,我们就到了河坊街。出租车把我们放在了河坊街的起点(东门)。
正如我们预料的那样,这条街很热闹,虽然不至于人山人海,但游客确实不少。好在街上没有电动滑板车和自行车,所以我们可以悠闲地漫步,不用躲避它们。
这条街是典型的“老街”,有很多小吃店、面馆和纪念品商店。街边还有一家铜器博物馆,里面有很多铜器,纪念品价格也比较贵。再往前走,还有一家中药店,我妻子觉得这家店的药不太好。
沿着这条街走了一圈后,我们转身往回走,大约走了100米后,右转进入了大京巷。从熙熙攘攘的大街到静谧的小巷,变化之大令人惊叹。这里大多是咖啡馆、小吃店、画廊和服装精品店。我们把头伸进钱塘楼一号井里,遗憾地发现张小泉的剪刀店关门了。
大井巷的尽头有一座气势恢宏的鼓楼,如果精力充沛,可以爬上去。鼓楼周围的区域已经开发完毕,非常壮观。
穿过鼓楼时,我妻子说她有点饿了,需要吃点东西补充能量。她在右边发现了一家饺子店(鼓楼煎宝锅),我们很快就被安排入座,点了饺子、汤饺和汤面。我妻子觉得味道不错,这可不是轻易给出的评价。
酒足饭饱之后,我的妻子宣布要去拜访一位巫医的故居,于是我们出发寻找胡雪岩的故居(TA 评论:胡雪岩故居),它就在几条马路之外。