Where you'll be
Where you recover matters as much as where you're treated.
Marco Polo called Hangzhou "the finest and most splendid city in the world." Today it wraps a UNESCO World Heritage lake around one of China's great technology capitals — a calm, green place to get well.
A city built for a gentle recovery
Nature
West Lake & beyond
The UNESCO-listed West Lake, the Xixi Wetland, and the cool hills of Moganshan — quiet places to walk as you heal.
Modern
A tech capital
Home to Alibaba and China's celebrated "Six Little Dragons" — a clean, modern, well-connected city.
Calm
Rest & restore
Single-occupancy rooms, familiar food, and free days that are yours when you're well enough to explore.
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Modern & ancient
A 5,000-year-old capital that became China's startup city.
The China of tomorrow
A digital-economy powerhouse
- —Global headquarters of Alibaba and Ant Group — the heart of China's e-commerce
- —Home of NetEase and a leading hub for AI, robotics and cloud
- —The "Six Little Dragons" of Hangzhou tech — Unitree (robotics), DeepSeek (AI), Game Science (Black Myth: Wukong), Deep Robotics, BrainCo and Manycore
- —Pioneer of the "City Brain" smart-city system and cashless mobile payment
- —Host city of the 2023 Asian Games
Five thousand years deep
A cradle of Chinese civilisation
- —Liangzhu — a 5,000-year-old jade civilisation and UNESCO World Heritage Site on the city's edge
- —Capital of the Southern Song dynasty (then called Lin'an) — one of China's Eight Great Ancient Capitals
- —Southern terminus of the Grand Canal, another UNESCO site, still flowing through the old city
- —The 1,700-year-old Lingyin Temple and the legend of Leifeng Pagoda on the lake
- —A city written into Chinese poetry for over a thousand years
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Traditional & modern medicine
One of the few cities where 150 years of Western medicine grew up beside a millennium of Chinese healing.
You'll be treated in a modern, internationally connected hospital — in a city that has been a centre of medicine, in both traditions, for centuries.
Traditional Chinese medicine
A living home of Chinese healing
- —Huqingyutang — the legendary 1874 apothecary known as the "King of Medicine South of the Yangtze," today a working pharmacy and TCM museum you can visit
- —Heir to Zhu Danxi, one of the four great masters of classical Chinese medicine, from this region
- —Historic halls such as Fang Huichun Tang still practising centuries-old traditions
- —Zhejiang Chinese Medical University and a deep culture of herbal medicine, acupuncture and Longjing-tea wellness
Modern Western medicine
A cluster of top teaching hospitals
- —A top-6 public tertiary (Grade A) teaching hospital — where you'll be treated, through its International Healthcare Center
- —One of China's earliest Western hospitals, founded in 1869 by a British physician
- —A hospital run in partnership with Loma Linda University of the USA, bringing American-style hospital management to China
- —All anchored by Zhejiang University's School of Medicine — one of the country's strongest
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Technology & nature
Cutting-edge by day, timeless by the water.
Few cities let you walk through a robotics showcase in the morning and a thousand-year-old lakeside in the afternoon. On your free days, Hangzhou gives you both.
Science & technology
See the future being built
- —One of China's largest robotics exhibition halls, where the city's famous robots are shown off
- —The Zhejiang Science & Technology Museum and interactive innovation centres
- —Tech districts like Yunqi Town and Dream Town — the campuses behind the startups
- —A genuinely cashless, app-driven city that's effortless to get around once you arrive
Landscape & wellness
Some of China's most loved scenery
- —The West Lake — a UNESCO World Heritage landscape of causeways, pagodas and willow-lined shores
- —Xixi Wetland — a tranquil national park of waterways right in the city
- —Qiandao Lake (Thousand Island Lake) — clear water and forested islands a short trip away
- —Moganshan — a cool mountain retreat of bamboo forests and historic wellness lodges
- —The Longjing (Dragon Well) tea villages and hillside plantations
Living heritage
Crafts and arts passed down for generations
Hangzhou holds a remarkable concentration of China's intangible cultural heritage — traditions you can still watch, taste and take home:
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On your free days
When you're well enough, the city is yours.
Many people who come don't have to be here — they've simply always wanted to see China, and a check-up or a straightforward procedure is the reason that finally brings them. For them, and for anyone with a quiet day between appointments, our travel partner arranges small-group experiences (1–4 people), each with an English-speaking guide and door-to-door transfers. A taste of what's on offer:
Tea culture
A morning as a tea farmer
In spring, climb the hills of Meijiawu with a tea-farming family to pick and pan-roast Longjing by hand. Year-round, learn the Song-dynasty art of whisked tea (dian cha) in traditional Hanfu robes.
Living heritage
Make something by hand
Try Chinese calligraphy or ink painting; throw and glaze your own piece at a Southern Song Imperial Kiln — a national intangible-heritage celadon craft; or paint a lacquer fan among 20+ living crafts at the Grand Canal heritage workshops.
Stillness & wellness
The wisdom of slowing down
Learn Tai Chi at dawn on Wu Hill, the way old Hangzhou wakes up. Or visit Huqingyutang, the 1874 apothecary once called the "King of Medicine south of the Yangtze," to understand the roots of Chinese medicine.
The future, up close
Meet the Six Little Dragons
See the robots and AI behind Hangzhou's famous "Six Little Dragons" at the Wensan Future Tech centre, or get close to the industrial inspection robots built by Shenhao Tech.
A thousand years of Song
Walk into the old capital
Trace the Southern Song capital on foot, from the Dehshou Palace ruins to the imperial street. Stand inside the 1,700-year-old Lingyin Temple beneath Feilai Feng. Or go deep at the Liangzhu, China Silk and Zhejiang Provincial museums.
The taste of Hangzhou
A thousand years on a plate
Trace Hangzhou cuisine from Southern Song banquets to home cooking at the world's only Hangbang-cuisine museum; graze the decades-old snack shops of Damalong lane; or roll your own dumplings after visiting a smart neighbourhood market.
These optional experiences are arranged by our travel partner, CYTS, with English-speaking guides and transfers included. They're never part of your treatment plan — just yours to choose if you'd like them. Ask us when you plan your trip.
Comfort, while you're far from home
Recovery is easier when the small things are taken care of. The IHC offers both Western and Chinese meals, a companion who interprets, and a calm, private place to rest. If you don't need to stay overnight, your free days are yours.
Plan your trip with a free assessmentPicture your recovery here.
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