City Balcony (城市阳台) is located in Qianjiang New Town (钱塘新城), at the banks of Qiantang River. It covers 48000 square meters divided in two areas: the area between Qingjiang Street (清江路）and East Jiefang Street (解放东路) and the area between Xinye Street (新业路) and East Qingchun Street (庆春东路). In between these two, as the stage for the show, are the Hangzhou International Convention Center (杭州国际会议中心) and the Hangzhou Grand Theatre (杭州大剧院), also known as "the Sun and the Moon of Hangzhou", two landmarks captured in 90 percent of photos that pop up when you google “Hangzhou.”
Every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday night at around 7:30, the surrounding buildings turn into an outstanding spectacle of lights and animations. It honestly cannot be compared to anything I have seen, so I do not know how to describe it, which is why I strongly recommend you to see it yourself.
Nearby escalator leads to an underground area full or shops and restaurants. You can find some good local and international restaurants and lots of mid-range brands at reasonable prices.
Above, on the surface, close to the river, the whole area is filled with people singing, dancing, riding bikes, flying kites, taking photos. View along the other side of the river is spectacular. The building shaped like lotus in all kinds of pink and purple is Hangzhou Olympic Stadium (杭州市奥体中心主体育场), the main venue of Asian Games 2023.
Fuchun Road (富春路) which is just short walking distance away, is where you can find two really fun shopping centers, Raffles City (来福士) and MixC Mall (万象城).
Both shopping malls offer countless activities, exhibitions, cinema, game rooms, ice skating. When it comes to shopping, you can shop for anything from cosmetics to flowers, from Louis Vuitton to H&M, hand-made Japanese mochi to Hawaiian poke bowl. At the 6th floor of MixC Mall you will find a food court. Mala Tang (麻辣烫), knife sliced noodles (刀削面), barbecue, fish, dumplings, all of it is available and delicious. It is a good place to try foods from all over China. In Raffles City, the food court is one floor below ground. Here the assortment is a bit different, with a lot of Japanese restaurants and places serving food from Fujian, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Try Japanese Takoyaki, it is really good.
One of the Hangzhou icons when it comes to fine dining and cocktails (and the view!), Park Hyatt’s (杭州柏悦酒店) Forty8 restaurant and bar (潮餐厅，潮酒吧) is literally around the corner. It is pricey, but the food, the ambience, the service and the views are amazing.
Explanation:
Dark blue circles with stars mark the main stage of the light show, "the Sun and the Moon" of Hangzhou and shopping malls mentioned above.
I also added places where you can have dinner in the surrounding area (fork and knife marks Westen style restaurant).
In case you find this confusing, open the drop-down by clicking the symbol in the top left corner and uncheck what you do not want to see.
The outlets under the city balcony and two shopping malls offer wide range of dining options, from simple snacks to elaborate meals.
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