Is Hangzhou Safe in May 2026?

Longjing (Dragon Well) tea is Hangzhou's most famous product, and fake or low-grade tea sold as premium authentic Longjing is the city's most prevalent tourist scam. Sellers in shops near West Lake, at tea villages, and along Longjing Road present cheap machine-rolled tea or tea from other provinces as hand-picked, first-flush authentic Longjing, charging prices 10–50 times the actual value. Some sellers show genuine samples but pack a different, inferior product.

How to avoid: Purchase Longjing tea only from government-designated stores with official certification, or from the Longjing village cooperative shops with origin labels. Genuine first-grade Longjing is expensive — if the price seems like a bargain, the tea is not authentic. Watch your purchase being packed from the same batch you sampled.

At the Longjing tea plantations in Meijiawu Village and along the Dragon Well Road area, unofficial guides approach tourists offering to explain tea picking and processing. After a walk through the fields and an extended tasting session, they present a bill of 300 to 800 RMB for the guide service and tea consumed, with no price agreed in advance. Some operators use the same inflated-bill structure as tea ceremony scams in city centers but set in a rural plantation environment that makes the transaction feel more legitimate.

How to avoid: Agree on all prices in writing before beginning any tea tasting or guided walk. Legitimate Longjing tea farms near Meijiawu post standard prices per gram for their varieties. If a guide approaches you without a price board, politely decline and visit only registered tea farms with visible menus.

Tea houses near Lingyin Temple and around West Lake offer traditional tea ceremonies that begin with a reasonable cover charge but escalate into aggressive upselling of expensive tea products. Hosts present multiple premium varieties and apply social pressure to purchase, with final bills reaching hundreds of dollars for tea purchases visitors feel obligated to make after the ceremony.

How to avoid: Set a firm budget before entering any tea ceremony experience and state it clearly at the start. Legitimate tea houses will have fixed, published ceremony prices. If hosts begin pressure-selling after the demonstration, it is acceptable to decline all purchases. Book through your hotel for vetted experiences.

Taxi drivers and unlicensed drivers at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport regularly overcharge tourists, particularly those arriving on international flights. Common tactics include claiming the meter is broken and offering a fixed fare, taking unnecessarily long routes, or stopping short of the destination and demanding extra payment. The city center is approximately 30–35 km from the airport.

How to avoid: Use only metered taxis from the official rank outside arrivals, or book via DiDi from the designated pickup area. The metered fare to Wulin Square area should be approximately 100–130 RMB. Insist on the meter before entering the vehicle; if refused, take the next taxi.

Restaurants bordering West Lake, particularly along Nanshan Road and Hubin Road, apply tourist pricing substantially above menu rates or present bills with items not ordered. Some menus list prices per 50g for expensive dishes without making this clear, resulting in bills many times what visitors expected. The lake-view premium is used to justify inflated charges.

How to avoid: Review the menu carefully and ask about pricing units before ordering — especially for fish, seafood, and specialty dishes sold by weight. Check the bill item by item before paying. Restaurants one or two blocks back from the lake typically charge fair prices for the same Hangzhou cuisine.