Just came back from Hangzhou. Maybe it's recency bias or something... but I really think Hangzhou is UNDERRATED as a family vacation place.

It's feels much less crowded than Shanghai and you'd be surprised, there is a lot of mannerism emphasis there. This "be gracious" sign below was found at a centralised rubbish area near my B&B at Long Jing.

I chose to compare Hangzhou to Hokkaido simply because both start with "H"... haha... and also Hokkaido is undoubtedly a popular (though costly) family holiday destination.

Difference in experience between Hangzhou and Hokkaido

Of course, Hokkaido is a huge island with cities like Sapporo and Hakodate ... while Hangzhou's just one city. Temperature and city development seems similar but other than that, it's different... I get it.

Most actually do the Hangzhou + Shanghai + Suzhou combination for a china tour.

But if you're also with a young kid, it's not easy to travel between cities.