When I have a baby, I have a very fulfilling weekend, and I always want to take Wang Bao, a "wild" child, out to have fun. As the Spring Festival is approaching, many villages and towns around Hangzhou are also getting stronger. I heard that there is a New Year's Customs and Cultural Festival in Xiaoshan next door, so it's better to take Wang Bao to Xiaoshan for a short trip.

Day1: Hangzhou-Xianghu-Museum of Modern Ceramic Art-First World Hotel
Day2: Heshang Town, Xiaoshan-Jinhua Town-Hangzhou

Although Xiaoshan is only an administrative district in Hangzhou, its geographical area is also very large. The central Xianghu Scenic Area is close to the center of Xiaoshan City. Many surrounding villages and towns are very unique. This time, a nature + cultural experience route was specially chosen. If you want to play a more pure rural route, you can directly go to Heshang Town, Louta Town, Jinhua Town and other villages and towns with charm and cultural heritage to experience; If you want to take your child to play for fun, Hangzhou Paradise, Rotten Apple Paradise, Base Ocean Park and Senbo Paradise near Xianghu are all good choices.

Driving by yourself. The villages and towns in the southeast and north of Xiaoshan are far apart, and it is easy to get lost in the village. You should study the route carefully before setting off.

Hangzhou's West Lake Scenic Area is world-renowned, but in fact, there is another national-level tourist resort in Hangzhou, echoing the West Lake Scenic Area across the river. This is the Xianghu Tourist Resort.

Due to the more famous West Lake, the surrounding area of Xianghu is a little cleaner than the broken bridge Beishan Road, which is crowded with tourists. However, the scenery of Xianghu's lakes and mountains and the surrounding playability are not inferior in the slightest. Therefore, it is also an ideal place to visit for locals in Hangzhou, as well as residents of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. Along Xianghu Lake, we first went to the Zhejiang Province Museum of Modern Ceramic Art.

This Meishan Island Museum built on Xianghu Lake can be described as distinctive and easy to discover. If you walk along the edge of Xianghu Lake, the big chimney with a red brick structure is the location of the museum. This ancient brick kiln factory established in the late Qing Dynasty no longer emits smoke. Based on this brick kiln factory, the current Ceramic Art Museum was built using the same red brick style.

In addition to the more than 300 modern ceramic works regularly displayed, the museum will also hold some temporary works exhibitions, such as the recent exhibition of ceramic works by Arab artists. In response to the echo of ancient brick kilns and modern ceramic works, it is extremely impactful and also has a beauty of inheritance.

After appreciating the art works, there is also a favorite part for children: handmade pottery making experience and courses. Make an earthen jar by yourself and watch the clay change in your hand. Every baby can be a little artist. This is Wang Bao's favorite project, which can fully display his talent (trouble and trouble). Although there are teachers who guide the making of utensils, Wang Bao prefers to make the clay into strange shapes in his hands. Perhaps this is also the nature of children. Didn't we grow up playing with mud?

The museum is open for free every day. Except for Tuesday, when the museum is closed, the daily opening hours are 9:00-17:00. If you want to participate in a course or experience in handmade pottery, there are different prices to pay.
After coming out of the Art Museum, we went to Hushan Square to take a picture-boat cruise on Xianghu Lake.

Xianghu Cruise

As the sister lake of the West Lake, Xianghu Lake is more slender in shape. There are many ways to visit Xianghu. The more relaxed way is to cruise the Xianghu Lake. By boat around the lake, you can not only admire the ruins of the Xianghu Lake Cross-Lake Bridge and Xiasun Cultural Village and other attractions, you can also cross the double cross-lake bridges and feel the charm of the new and old cross-lake bridges.

There are many places to take Xianghu cruises, and the boat port next to Hushan Square is closest to the Art Museum. The antique style pleasure boat has windows installed, is fully enclosed in winter and has air conditioning, which also saves the worry for families with children. The ship is equipped with scenic spots explanations and has a stop halfway. You can choose to disembark to visit other attractions.

The Kuahuqiao Site Museum is the most distinctive museum on Hunan Lake. The Kuahuqiao Site once unearthed a canoe with a history of 7500 years and can be called the "first boat in China". The shape of the museum also refers to the canoe structure. When viewed from the lake, it looks like a giant canoe parked on Hunan Lake.

The entire boat time takes approximately 50 minutes, and the ticket price is 55 yuan. The museum is open from 9:00 to 16:30 every Tuesday to Sunday and is closed on Mondays. Unfortunately, the museum has been recently closed for renovation, and I was not lucky enough to enter and visit.

There are many resort hotels near Xianghu, but Kaiyuan Senbo and First World Hotel are more recommended for parent-child travel. Kaiyuan Senbo has its own resort park, not far away is Changqiao Polar Ocean Park, and First World Hotel comes with Yunman Hot Spring, and Hangzhou Paradise and Rotten Apple Paradise are just outside the door, taking into account the relaxation of parents and the fun of children.

This time, I took Wang Bao to stay at the First World Hotel. The hotel's main theme is parent-child. The entire hotel has a European architectural style. There is also a tropical rainforest style lobby in the middle. If you choose an interior room type, you can stand on the balcony of the room. You can enjoy it up close. Although I didn't book a parent-child themed room, the room was still equipped with toiletries and toilet cushions that were convenient for the baby, which were very considerate and small details. Opposite the hotel are Hangzhou Paradise and Rotten Apple Paradise. If you want to take a pure fun route in Xianghu, staying here is the first choice.

The hotel lobby on the first floor is closely connected to Yunman Hot Spring. When visiting Xianghu during the day, you can change into your pajamas from your room and you can reach the hot spring without walking too far. It is highly recommended to come here before going to bed to wash off the fatigue of the day. The water in Yunman Hot Spring is certified radon hot spring water, which also has health effects. Large and small soup ponds with different effects are suitable for different groups of people. Although it is winter now, the cold and hot here stimulate blood circulation and I don't feel cold. Families with babies can also choose to soak in the indoor soup pool, but try to choose a soup pool that does not exceed 38 degrees and don't let the baby soak for too long.

The opening hours of Yunman Hot Spring are: 16:30-22:30 (Monday-Friday)13:00-22:30(Saturday)10:30-22:30 (Sunday). Direct ordering of two-day and one-night accommodation and dinner is the best value for money.

The next day, Heshang Town

Making rice cakes during the Lunar New Year is a traditional New Year custom in Zhejiang. As soon as we approach the Jin Family Temple in Heshang Town, Xiaoshan, the villagers are already busy, steaming rice noodles and making rice cakes. The shouts of making rice cakes are accompanied by hot steam. The steam travels into the air from the courtyard. When the rice cake is ready, the villagers will distribute it to the children in the family temple. They can't wait to take a bite in their hands, which is more soft and warm than what they eat on weekdays.

In the square outside the ancestral temple, what is being performed is the folk art of "carrying a horse and paper umbrella". The horse dancer carried 18 horses mounted on peach paper and white gauze, and immediately sat Liu Bei and his five tiger generals, dressed in battle robes and holding weapons in their hands, as if they had returned from a great victory. Why is Liu Bei used to celebrate the New Year? This stems from the local custom of "living gold and dying Liu". The descendants of the Liu surname in the past changed their surnames to Jin in order to avoid disaster. However, after their deaths, the memorial tablets on the tombstones were all changed back to the surname "Liu" to remember their ancestors and pass them down from generation to generation. It has also become an iron rule for the Jin clan. On holidays, it is also necessary to commemorate the ancestors of the Liu surname.

The Old Street of Heshang Town, not far from the Old Street of Fengwu Village, was a market built in the Tang Dynasty. During the Southern Song Dynasty, it was a trading market where merchants gathered, and it was also known as "Little Hangzhou". Today, the renovated old street retains the style of ancient buildings, and coupled with the market activities of the New Year Customs Cultural Festival, it has the market style of that year.

Draw a lucky draw, young man, and realize your dream.

When you come to Xiaoshan, you must taste the "Ten Bowantou": three delicacies in soup, front Dongpo, white rice chicken, vinegar fish, back Dongpo, stir-fried seasonal pieces, fried pork skins, sweet and sour pork ribs, fried celery with shredded pork, pickled mustard and shredded pork and egg flower soup, these nine dishes and one soup constitute the dining table for Xiaoshan people to celebrate the holidays. It is said that food is the most important thing in Chinese people, and Xiaoshan people even ate "Shiwantou" as an "intangible cultural heritage". Without delicacies from mountains and seas, these farmhouse local flavors, meat and vegetables are healthy and delicious when paired with each other.

After tasting the authentic "Shiwantou", we walked into Huantan Village, Jinhua Town, and carefully tasted this ancient village named after Yue Fei. Through the construction of beautiful villages, ancient buildings such as Wubentang, Jiangnan Weaving Factory, and Tongji Wall Gate were completely preserved, and symbolic buildings such as Yueyuan were built at the same time. Compared with the Jiangnan water town of Xitang in Zhouzhuang, Huantan is a little more tranquil and pyrotechnic. Walking on the ancient street in the village and watching the children playing happily, you can always feel a sense of substitution, and even a kind of returning home. The illusion of returning home was not until dusk that I remembered that it was almost back, and I felt a little more lingering.

Traditional tempting New Year food, lively festival performances, and beautiful villages and towns in simple style. You are already excited, so why not come to Xiaoshan to have a look.