It took a little research to find this place. I should probably have just put a quick question up on HangzhouExpat and had an answer in just a few hertz time, but perhaps early on Friday morning my own clock speed wasn’t quite up there. I had seen a photo of it – an octagonal field somewhere in south Hangzhou. I tried Wikipedia.org, but sadly the photos are no longer showing, so onto wikitravel.org (both good resources that need updating all the time – give it a go) and nothing there either. Strangely an image search in cn.bing.com for Hangzhou Hexagon came up with a name: 八卦田 (bagua tian | Octagonal field). Quite why ‘hexagon’ returned an ‘octagon’ beats me. 八卦田 into Google Maps and a way we go. Google Earth confused the matter a little as it shows two things that look like octagonal fields. Best just to go and look.
八卦田 spent most of the Eighties, Nineties, and Naughties as a fish farm, which is a bit of a pity considering this was where Song Emperor Gaozhong came to do his farming in 1145. In 2007, somebody high up must have been looking for his legacy and had the place re-invented. It wasn’t even for financial gain; the park is free to enter.

On a Friday afternoon it was a peaceful place. The happy little teahouse was thriving with chirping oldies strewing watermelon seeds just about everywhere except the bowls provided. There was one table in the middle of a feast of very local looking Hangzhou food – hongshao rou, bamboo shoots, fish heads, the usual. The rape is in full bloom and behind it some pretty purple looking things that made me think of linseed, but probably wasn’t. On one edge of the field is the Farmers Calendar etched out in stone detailing all the growing seasons, the stars, moon, and probably pi to 28 decimal places (apparently that was invented here too). The calendar was invented by Wang Zhen and recorded in his book finished in 1313. You cant so easily make out the octagonal shape from down here on earth; my friend even had to ask why it was called bagua. She got a kick in the ribs for that. There was nothing to be done except climb the hill.

Not before a quick wander into Yuhuangshan Town (玉皇山) for cigarettes. I asked two or three people about the ‘other’ bagua. I was kinda hoping there would be hushed tones, embarrassed looks and fidgeting, signalling that my advanced investigative satellite research had uncovered some covered-over secret landing site or something, but I’m afraid to disappoint you. Nobody had any idea what I was going about. Where were my horns? (Or maybe this is a really hush-hush facility, an Eyes Wide Shut playground for local officials?)

Of course, you always end up paying. The park farm is free, but the whole mountain is not. Got ya! Mr. Legacy is grinning. It is just 10Y to enter Yuhuangshan Scenic park, and I guess somebody has to pay for carrying all those immense stair stones up the hill. The place is littered with grottoes and temples and pavilions, allowing you to peak at one step over the West lake, and next step over Qiantang River. In Ciyun Temple (慈云宫) a few angry looking demons guard over the ‘Long Life Vegetarian Noodle’ place. The boss wasn’t anywhere to be found…

At the top, just a 20 min easy climb, you come to Zilai Cave (紫来洞), and this spectacular view from the terrace. What can I say?

Not liking to go back the way I came, and smelling on the wind a faint, but so definitely there, pint at the bottom, we went down the other side into the Jiuyaoshan tunnel cutting, and lo and behold on the corner with Hupao Road, was Norway Woods Bar. (挪威森林酒吧) The sun was still up and the pint beckoning to go down. Cheers.