Hangzhou has a surprising amount of good little bars and clubs for a city of this size. The most popular evening past time remains, however, the typical Chinese experience of walking around or across the West Lake with your beloved in the moonlight. Watch out for the kids selling you red roses!

This kind of thing though, is not for everyone, especially those who are single! The citys nightlife at the moment tends to center around the Paradise Rock bar which is right next to the Overseas Chinese Hotel on Hubin Lu. The drinks in this bar are cheap, the decor is decent, the food is tasty and the live music is usually excellent. Hangzhou is currently producing some of Chinas best live musicians and any night out on the town here will encounter either a planned or impromptu "jamming session". It makes for a great atmosphere in the bars and clubs and there is a great relationship here between the sizeable foreign student population and the local kids. There are numerous other bars around town worth checking out including the Lake of Dreams on the southeast corner of the lake and the New L.A. Disco on Qing Chun Lu. This place even has a bouncy floor!!!

Hangzhou also has a few other entertainment attractions including two championship level tennis courts and a Golf club. As usual in the smaller cities in China, its worth checking out the big hotels such as The Shangri-la to see if they have any events organized.