Hangzhou or Yangshuo?

Neither is a beach destination, so anyone after sand and sea needs to add a coastal stay to either trip. Yangshuo at least has a swim close at hand. In the hot months people wade in from the gravel banks of the Yulong and the calm reaches of the Li, often at the end of a cycling day.

In Hangzhou the brown, tidal Qiantang estuary and West Lake are not for bathing. The nearest designated swimming is at Qiandao Lake, about two hours away.

Hangzhou has one of the classic cuisines of China, and Yangshuo does not come close. Lakeside banquets of West Lake fish in vinegar sauce, Dongpo pork and shrimp with Longjing tea, breakfast bowls of pian'erchuan and tea drunk in the villages where it is picked make the food a real reason to visit.

Yangshuo's table is narrower: beer fish, stuffed snails and bitter melon, and Guilin rice noodles in the morning. The best of it is found in the side streets and riverside villages rather than on the tourist menus of West Street, and there is no fine dining to move on to.

This is where the two differ most. Hangzhou's West Lake is a landscape designed over a thousand years and ringed by Lingyin Temple, the Feilai Feng carvings and the Leifeng and Six Harmonies pagodas. The silk, tea and provincial museums are in town and the Neolithic remains of Liangzhu are on the edge. Its old streets are largely rebuilt, but the rest of its heritage fills several days.

Yangshuo has no significant museums and a mostly rebuilt centre. Its interest lies in the brick villages along the Yulong, the Ming-era Dragon Bridge and the ancient Big Banyan Tree. These are pleasant stops on a bike ride rather than sights in their own right.

Neither is a place for a big night out, but evenings feel quite different in each. In Hangzhou they are spread out and gentle: a stroll on the lit lakeshore, terraces around Hubin, craft beer and karaoke, with larger clubs in Wulin for those who want them.

Yangshuo puts everything on West Street. Bars there open their doors to loud music and stage dancers until well past midnight, mostly for domestic tour crowds. Out in the villages the nights are silent, which suits some travellers better.

Yangshuo's landscape is the reason people go, and here it beats Hangzhou. Karst peaks rise from rice fields within easy cycling distance, and the walk along the Li from Yangdi to Xingping passes one of China's most famous views. Climbing, kayaking and caving add to it.

Hangzhou's nature is softer and closer to the city. It has wooded ridges and tea terraces above West Lake, the Nine Creeks valley and the Xixi wetland, with Moganshan and Tianmushan a drive away. These are lovely for half-day walks but not enough for a trip built around the outdoors.

Hangzhou sits in one of the richest corners of China for excursions. Fast trains reach Shaoxing in under half an hour, Shanghai in about an hour and Suzhou's classical gardens not long after. The canal towns of Wuzhen, Xitang and Nanxun are each around an hour by road.

From Yangshuo the outings are smaller. There are the old quarters of Xingping, Fuli and Daxu, the better-preserved Ming and Qing town of Huangyao about two hours away, and Guilin with the Reed Flute Cave. They fill a spare day, but they are not why you go.

Hangzhou gives children more to do in a planned way. There are pedal boats and island ferries on West Lake, a hillside zoo, an aquarium with penguins and belugas, and theme parks with rides and costumed shows. Summer heat and festival crowds are the drawbacks.

Yangshuo works for older, active children who will enjoy a bamboo raft, a show cave with a mud pool and a tandem ride through the villages. It has nothing built for children, though, and busy country roads mean cycling with little ones needs care.

Hangzhou is much easier to get around. A clean metro covers much of the city and runs to the stations and the airport, shared bikes are easy to use around the lake, and cheap taxis and ride-hailing reach the tea villages and wetlands.

Yangshuo's centre is small, but almost everything happens out in the countryside, which has no metro. Visitors depend on a hired bicycle or electric scooter, local minibuses or a driver, and the high-speed station is a drive out of town. In both places, signs in Chinese only and mobile payment apps take some preparation.

Hangzhou has real things to buy: silk by the length, scarves and qipao, Longjing tea from the growers in spring, and the malls and international brands of Wulin and the eastern lakeshore. Yangshuo's shopping means souvenir stalls along West Street, much of it mass-produced, with Fuli's hand-painted fans and some osmanthus products as the genuine exceptions.

Both are inexpensive for a visitor, and Yangshuo is a little cheaper. Its village guesthouses, rice-noodle breakfasts and bike hire cost very little, though Li River cruises, rafts, caves and the night show carry tourist prices.

In Hangzhou, the free lakeshore and hill walks, cheap metro and modest temple fees keep a trip affordable. Lakeside hotels and banquet dining push costs up faster, though. In both places, room rates rise sharply during the national festival weeks.

Each has a large staged spectacle on the water. Hangzhou's is performed on West Lake, while Yangshuo's is Zhang Yimou's telling of the Liu Sanjie legend on the Li River, set against floodlit karst peaks.

Beyond that, Hangzhou offers more: Yue opera in local theatres, though it is rarely surtitled, and the Grand Theatre's orchestra, ballet and concerts. Yangshuo has only dance shows for tour groups and cover bands on West Street.

A slow pace is part of Hangzhou's character. Dawn brings tai chi and water calligraphy by the lake, and afternoons can be spent over Longjing in the hill tea houses. Massage parlours are everywhere, and retreat hotels in the tea valleys have spas. The calm is easiest to find early in the day and away from the lakeshore at weekends.

Yangshuo can be restful too, but only if you stay out in the Yulong valley or towards Xingping. There, days slow down to cycling, river swims and evenings on a terrace. It has fewer spas, and the town centre stays loud late into the night.