Our group of 6 intend to travel from Hangzhou to Shanghai: Where can we hire a van? Cost?

You can hire a van but it seems not easy, I mean the process to rent a van from a car rental. Anyway, I would rather you ask for car pick-up from a travel agency. If you just want an easier trip from Hangzhou to Shanghai, choose high-spead trains. It is comfortable, faster and less expansive than rent a van. It is about 100km from Shanghai to Suzhou, only half a hour by high speed train.