1. About Hangzhou

Many people are familiar with Shanghai, which has over 60,000 Japanese residents. But there aren't many people who know of Hangzhou. It's actually quite close to Shanghai -- only 175km away. In recent years, real estate in Shanghai is soaring, and many people who work in Shanghai have started living in Hangzhou, commuting to work using the rail system. There may also be some Japanese residents living among them, but there is no solid data on the exact numbers as of yet.

　Hangzhou has many popular tourist spots, such as West Lake, Yalu River Broken Bridge, Leifeng Pagoda, and the Lingyin Temple, which many tourists come to visit annually. But they are not yet popular among Japanese people. Possibly because most Japanese people associate China with the Three Kingdoms, in which Hangzhou does not really appear. But it is, in fact, a part of the Three Kingdoms -- it is just a bit behind in modernization. However, some Japanese people living in Shanghai will visit Hangzhou to get away and enjoy the peace and serenity.

2. Regional Information

≪Hangzhou Regional Informaton≫

Area　16,596㎢（About 26 times the size of Tokyo）

Population　9,188,000

Language　Shangainese, English, Mandarin, Other

Religion Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Catholicism, Judaism, Islam

Currency※１CNY＝about 17JPY (3/2018 exchange rate)

4 hour flight from Tokyo, making for easy travel between the two cities

≪Food≫

・Eating local foods: 1 day/3 meals: 40-100CNY

・Eating Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese foods

50～300CNY/meal

You can enjoy Hanghzou's foods, such as salmon, duck, and soup dumplings.

≪Housing≫

・The nicer the area, the more expensive the rent will be

・About 1000~2,000CNY depending on the case

　More spacious or convenient living will be about 2,000～5,000CNY

　1dk is about 40㎡

≪Utilities≫

・Electricity in the summer is about 100～200CNY/month

　In winter is about 150CNY/month

・Water 20CNY/month

・Gas 30CNY/month

≪Transportation≫

・First 3km in a taxi 11CNY (depending on the area)

・The bus and subway are a bit cheaper than in Japan

☆It can cost about 100CNY to return to Hangzhou from the outskirts

3. Washoku in Hangzhou

Japanese people find Hangzhou to be a nice place to live, and many people of Hangzhou have a positive image of Japan and enjoy Washoku cuisine. There weren't many Washoku restaurants in Hangzhou in the past, and most of the food was altered to meet local tastes. In 2017, the Zhejiang province in China celebrated 35 years of peace between the two, and invited 40 people of the Shizuoka Prefecture delegation to enjoy a meal at the Hangzhou Huajiashan Resort, calling it the "Washoku Food Tasting." It helped foster a relationship with both Japan and Japanese food. According to our company research, there are about 1,000 Washoku restaurants in Hangzhou, and a good number of them are upscale Kaiseki restaurants with Japanese chefs.す。

Here's an article about the Washoku Food Tasting event.

http://www.at-s.com/news/article/topics/shizuoka/426828.html

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Kei Sugano Wang