Hefang Street

Hefang Street is Hangzhou's best-known pedestrian shopping street, running through the Shangcheng District near West Lake and Wushan. Unlike a generic souvenir strip, the street specializes in Hangzhou-specific goods: West Lake Longjing tea, silk products, folding fans, scissors from century-old workshops such as Zhang Xiaoquan, and traditional snacks like Hangzhou-style dried fruit and osmanthus cakes. Vendor quality varies by storefront: century-old brand shops (Hu Qingyu Tang traditional pharmacy, Wang Xingji fans) sell authentic, higher-priced goods, while stalls toward the street's edges lean toward mass-produced trinkets aimed at day-trippers, so shoppers should compare a few stalls before buying tea or silk. Bargaining is expected at small stalls and street carts but not inside established shops with marked prices; cash and mobile payment (Alipay/WeChat Pay) are both widely accepted, though foreign cards are rarely usable and there is no tax-refund scheme on the street itself. The street is busiest in the evening and on weekends, when the crowd thickens around the central archway and food stalls selling stinky tofu, candied fruit skewers, and beggar's chicken. The must-visit corners are the western end near Hu Qingyu Tang for traditional medicine and pharmacy history, the middle section for silk and tea shops, and the eastern end near Zhongshan Road where the historic block continues with antique and craft dealers. Side alleys off the main street hold smaller workshops worth a detour for handmade paper-cuts and calligraphy brushes.