The slow life at Hangzhou's Chenghuang Pavilion

Wushan is a leisure spot beloved by the locals of old Hangzhou. Tea houses can be found everywhere on the mountain, where you can brew a pot of tea, order some snacks, and gather with a few good friends to chat and laugh, able to sit leisurely for an entire day. When it comes to the best place to appreciate the beauty of West Lake, Chenghuang Pavilion is second to none. Currently, the ticket price for Chenghuang Pavilion is 30 yuan, and seniors over 70 years old can enter for free with a valid ID. Chenghuang Pavilion was built in the year 2000 and is a seven-story antique building with one underground level and six above ground, blending architectural styles from the Yuan and Ming dynasties. The first and second floors showcase the historical culture of the Southern Song Dynasty as well as the folk customs of old Hangzhou and West Lake. The third floor is the Chenghuang Pavilion teahouse, with a set meal for two priced at 168 yuan (including two cups of tea, two small bowls of lotus root starch, two small dishes of melon seeds and dried fruits, and a small dish of so-called 'intangible cultural heritage' pastries). The consumption here is mainly for the view, and the quality of the set meal is average, so don't have too high expectations. The fourth floor is the best viewing floor, offering a panoramic view of West Lake. The fifth floor is a restaurant, also a place where you pay for the view. The sixth floor has a flying pavilion, which is a VIP reception room, generally not accessible to ordinary tourists. The treasure of Chenghuang Pavilion—the large-scale three-dimensional hardwood color sculpture painting 'Scenes of the Southern Song Hangzhou City', measures 31.5 meters in length, 3.65 meters in height, and 2 meters in depth. It vividly recreates the imperial palaces, official residences, streets and bridges, shops, temples, gardens, and the daily life and cultural scenes of all social strata during Hangzhou's most glorious period in history, the Southern Song Dynasty, as the capital city of Lin'an Prefecture. The painting features more than 3,500 figures dressed in the attire of the time and over 1,000 architectural structures. It has won the first prize for excellent creative design in the 'Hundred Flowers Award' for Chinese arts and crafts.