What to buy in Hangzhou

Hangzhou’s Time-Honored Brands all up here

Between the Hangzhou Drum Tower and Qin’chun Gate in Zhong’shan Middle Road, in addition to some beautiful historical architecture, you can find many well-known time-honored brands.

Jiang Nan Chun pastry
No.356, Zhong’shan Middle Road
Jiang Nan Chun is a time-honored pastry brand in Hangzhou. It is popular among both the old and the new generation for its low-priced but tasty and authentic Chinese traditional pastry. 

The brand’s signature is a “mysterious birthday-peach” (a peach-like cake). It is called “mysterious” because no one knows what its stuffing consists of unless they buy it for birthday celebration and cut to open it. This special pastry is only available to purchase by reservation at least 2 days before, and it is priced based on size— 3 RMB for small-sized; 15RMB for middle-sized; 60 RMB for large-sized.

Shao Zhi Yan Chinese brush store
No. 298, Zhong’shan Middle Road
With 150-year history, this compact store houses different kinds of stationery neatly. The most famous product in the store is Chinese brush for there are many well-known Chinese calligraphers brought their Chinese brushes there. In addition, seals, ink, and other utensils for Chinese calligraphy can be found.

Jing Yang Guan pickles 
No.87, Zhong’shan Middle Road
Jing Yang Guan Pickles is one of the top 4 pickle stores in China. The pickles it sells are all made from fresh vegetables, and are pickled with peanuts, bamboo-green-shoots, duck with sauces, etc. Providing thousands of choices with great quality, Jing’yang’guan pickle is always the first breakfast choice for most Hangzhou people.

Yu Feng Xiang grocery 
No.403, Zhong’shan Middle Road
Old-fashioned glass cupboard, staff in casual clothes, abacus— the setting in the store is reserved as it was in the 80s. What it sells are some rare outdated daily items such as bronze kettles, wooden corks, and clothes with vintage patterns. What is more special, you can order to make tops from the cloths you choose in the store.

Kong Feng Chun cosmetics
No.23, Zhong’shan Middle Road
Kong’feng’chun is a local cosmetics brand and it represents one of the five most famous industries in Hangzhou, “the Hangzhou’s cosmetics”. The most famous product of the brand must be the face powder—“goose egg powder”, which is a facial product used by Empress Dowager Ci’ xi in Qing Dynasty in the past.

Yu Hua Zhai paper
No.11-13, Zhong’shan Middle Road 
Chinese brush should be from Shao Zhi Yan; paper should be from Yu Hua Zhai — this is what Hangzhou literati strongly believe. How famous is Yu’hua’zhai actually? The leading figure of modern Chinese literature, Lu’xun, was a fan of the store.

The paper store provides different kinds of paper on the first floor. With the second floor and the third floor as an art museum, Yu Hua Zhai exhibits various Chinese paintings and calligraphic works and changes the theme every month.

From http://en.gotohz.com/