Food and Restaurants

Hangzhou cuisine is defined as being light, fresh and sweet – typical fare found south of the Yangtze River, an area called Jiangnan. Little oil, loads of fresh fruit and fish; carp, eel, shrimp and crabs –an extra teaspoon of sugar and bamboo shoots.

A nice snack is xianrou xiaolong, mini-meat buns that are steamed in bamboo baskets, be careful eating them– they're juicy. A local specialty is sweet and sour West Lake carp, watch out for the bones though. A crispy tofu treat is which is similar to a spring roll – ground meat is wrapped with a slice of dried tofu then deep fried. Fresh river shrimp with Dragon Well tea combines two local specialties into one very unique dish. A good dish for those who aren't afraid of their cholesterol count is Dongpo pork . The dish is named after Su Dongpo, a poet and former governor of Hangzhou who created this dish for the laborers who expanded West Lake. A rich dark sauce, onions, ginger and chunks of succulent fatty meat defines the dish. Sister Song's fish broth is made froma recipe dating back to the Song dynasty, dish of skinned fish with slivers of ham, dried mushrooms, scallion, egg yolk, ginger seasoned with rice wine and vinegar.