It’s been many years since I last visited Hangzhou—probably a few years before the pandemic. Back then, I would visit Hangzhou once a year, or at least every other year, mostly to catch up with friends. Sightseeing was never the main reason. I had already visited all the famous tourist attractions so many times that I completely lost interest. I’d even been to spots that most tourists wouldn’t think to visit. Nowadays, Hangzhou is overcrowded with visitors, and it no longer offers that relaxed and leisurely travel vibe it once had.
I’ve also been through Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport quite a few times—back when it had only one terminal, then two, and now there’s yet another new terminal that wasn’t there before. According to my Hangzhou friends, it was built sometime around the pandemic. The new terminal is noticeably bigger—much larger and more modern than what I remember of the former Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan terminal. But the layout is also a bit more complicated. Even just following the signs makes you doubt if you’re heading in the right direction.
That said, the number of routes at Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport still isn’t that high. It’s not fully utilized yet. If you’re looking for better flight times or more options, Shanghai airports are still the better choice.
Getting off the plane was quick, and going through immigration was also surprisingly fast. But… the wait for luggage was painfully long! From disembarking to clearing immigration took maybe 10–15 minutes (maybe even less), but waiting for luggage took over an hour—some people waited up to an hour and a half. A crowd just stood silently by the baggage carousel, staring blankly. Eventually, people started looking for places to sit because their legs were giving out. Everyone was fixated on the carousel, and there were constant complaints from those nearby wondering why the bags were taking so long. According to my Hangzhou friends, long waits are common. If the airport were extremely busy and all the carousels were occupied, that would make sense. But in our case, other carousels were completely empty—not in use. Only ours was stuck in limbo. Shrug.
Once I left the airport, I noticed that the surrounding roads had also changed a lot—many new roads and bridges have been added compared to the past.
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