As someone who grew up in Hangzhou, WuLiu Alley Historical and Cultural District (五柳巷历史文化街区) is one of my favorite spots in the city. Now, I'm going to take you on a tour of WuLiu Alley through this Mystery Cache.
Some background info:
Wuliu Alley is located along the Dong River in the Shangcheng District of Hangzhou City, stretching from Doufu Bridge in the south to Daoyuan Lane in the north. WuLiu stands for five willows in Chinese. During the Southern Song Dynasty, a garden called WuLiu was established here, giving the alley its name. In the past, WuLiu Alley was a residence for high-ranking officials and nobility, later becoming a dwelling place for common people, mostly occupied by small artisans and traders. In the 33rd year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1907), a train station was built inside Qingtai Gate (the Gate was located ~1km to the Northeast of WuLiu Alley), and trains entered the city, gradually making the WuLiu Alley lively. The narrow lane still retains the alleyway architecture from the Republic of China era, and the Hangzhou municipal government has included it in the protection plan for historical and cultural areas since 2014.
Now let's get started!
Go to the given coordinates, and you should see the Dong River in front of you. This is the starting point of the WuLiu Alley Historical District, and you will explore the WuLiu Alley by walking alongside the Dong River.
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Now, walk down to the river walk on the east side (right-hand side when facing the river), and you should notice a row of shops. In front of the first shop, there is a wooden board with some Chinese characters and a 3-digit number on it. The number is 17A.
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Keep walking until you reach the first intersection. In the corner, there are several statues, and the number of children statue is B.
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Cross the road and continue walking. This time, take the riverwalk on the west side. After a few minutes, you'll notice many decorations resembling windmills hanging on the trees by the river. On the left side of the road, there's a row of residential house with similar decorations. Find the gate of the house, and there is a green mailbox next to the gate, with red characters of "C号-3".
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Keep walking, pay attention to the windows on the left side of the road. Find a window has cat photos sticking on it, and on the next window, there is the information about this particular cat. Among the details, her birthday is 2022.3.2D. (You might see the cat resting inside the window if lucky)
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Next, you'll arrive at another intersection. After crossing the road, you'll immediately see a barber shop. Underneath the barber light pole, there's a wooden board showing the introduction of WuLiu Alley. There are two years mentioned in the introduction. The second year is 198E.
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Keep walking forward. On your left, there is a large residential area. Now, walk into the residential area and experience the old Hangzhouness lifestyle. Find No. 85 and turn left until you reach a big black gate. If you see a stone with Chinese characters carved on it at the right bottom of the gate, you're at the right place. Now, turn right. There are two metal boxes above you. There's a series of numbers imprinted on the lower one. The numbers are 9F371.
Coordinate of cache is
N 30 E(A-B).9B(C-F)
E 120 10.(D-E)0(C-A)
(You may reach the final location more quickly if you return to the riverwalk and continue walking north (you don't need to go to the street)
Please bring your pen
Transportation:
Metro - Exit D, Jiangcheng Road Station, Line 5 or 7