Atlas of China
Beijing to Hangzhou 北京 – 杭州
Door to door, the high-speed train comes out ahead: about 4½ hours against about 5 hours by flight, counting about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time for a flight. Fares run ¥578 against about ¥690. The stations are in or near the city centres, which is what tips it.
| Way | Time | Door to door | Fare | A day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High-speed trainBeijing South 北京南 → Hangzhou East 杭州东 | 4 h 17 minG49, fastest | 4½ hours | ¥578standard class | 2807:04–23:37 |
| FlightBeijing Capital (PEK) → Hangzhou Xiaoshan (HGH) | 2 h 15 minin the air | 5 hours | about ¥690varies by day | 3607:25–22:20 |
By train
28 direct high-speed trains a day run from Beijing South to Hangzhou East, between 07:04 and 23:37. The fastest, G49, takes 4 h 17 min, and a standard-class seat is ¥578. Coming back, 27 trains a day, the fastest 4 h 28 min (G50, 06:50 to 18:57).
Beijing: Several main stations: South (Shanghai), West (Xi'an, Wuhan), Chaoyang (north-east) and North or Qinghe (Datong, Hohhot); flights use Capital (PEK) or Daxing (PKX).
By air
36 nonstop flights a day from Beijing Capital (PEK) to Hangzhou Xiaoshan (HGH), 2 h 15 min in the air, 07:25 to 22:20, with Air China, China Eastern Airlines and Hainan Airlines. 36 fly back. Door to door, with the airports at each end, count about 5 hours; fares vary by day and are typically about ¥690.
Stops on the way
Cities between the two with direct trains from Beijing and on to Hangzhou, so the trip can be broken there.
At the other end
Featured places around Hangzhou.
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West Lake 西湖
The lake that taught China what a perfect landscape should look like
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Lingyin Temple & Feilai Feng 灵隐寺
A working Chan monastery beside a hillside of 1,000-year-old rock carvings
Around Beijing: Forbidden City, Ming Tombs, Summer Palace, Fragrant Hills Park, Universal Beijing Resort.
On the map
Open either city on the illustrated map, or put both in a trip and let the planner lay out the days and the legs between them, with the same tables these numbers come from.
Book
About Beijing · About Hangzhou · Where Beijing reaches in a day · Where Hangzhou reaches in a day · All routes
Trains are every direct train on 2026-10-28 or 2026-11-11 in the 12306 timetable, with standard-class fares; one weekday, so weekend and holiday services differ, and the fastest train may not run every day. Flights are the airlines' schedules for 2026-10-28, plus routes Wikipedia lists for small airports. Drives are routed on OpenStreetMap roads (extract of 2026-10-21) where the pair was routed, else estimated from the distance. Door-to-door times add about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time to a flight. How to book is in the guide to trains and 12306; the rail times are open data on the data page.