West Lake Hangzhou – the charming beauty of Xi Shi

West Lake Hangzhou possesses poetic beauty, a scene like a fairyland. This place is also one of the 5 most beautiful lakes in China recognized by UNESCO. Find out with Focus Asia Travel!

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About West Lake Hangzhou.

Come to Hangzhou, China, a place known as “Paradise on Earth”. A place with beautiful natural landscapes like a watercolor painting, interwoven with ancient and modern architectural and cultural works. Your journey to conquer Hangzhou will become peaceful and gentle when you set foot in West Lake – one of the most famous destinations in Hangzhou.

West Lake

West Lake Hangzhou – a natural freshwater lake located in the west of Hangzhou city, Zhejiang. The lake is 3.3km long, 2.8km wide, and covers an area of over 6.3km2, with about 5.66km2 of water reservoir.

A special thing about the name “West Lake” is that there are more than 800 freshwater lakes named “West Lake” in the world. But according to statistics, West Lake Hangzhou, China is the most beautiful and famous lake.

West Lake

In 2011, Hangzhou West Lake was recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage. And it is considered that West Lake will become a symbol for the traditional garden design of Korea, Japan and China in the future.

Was recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage.

The lake exists to this day thanks to plans to change the landscape around the lake by planting willows and digging along the dike,… The beauty of West Lake is condensed in the West Lake Ten Sceneries (Ten Beautiful Sceneries of West Lake), each of which is marked by a stele with the name written in calligraphy by the Qing Emperor Qianlong himself.

The scale of West Lake.

West Lake is divided by 3 dikes into 3 areas: Bach dike, To dike and Duong Cong dike.

The lake is also divided into 5 small lakes: Hau Tay Ho, Ly Tay Ho, Ngoai Tay Ho, Tieu Nam Ho and Nhac Ho, among them, there is a lake containing a hill called Co Son Lake (area of about 200,000 m2) and 3 small islands: Tieu Doanh Chau, Tam Dinh Lake and Nguyen Cong Don.

In the West Lake area, there is a rather low mountain called Co Son with an area of about 200,000m2. In addition, there are 3 islands: Tam Dinh Lake, Tieu Doanh Chau and Nguyen Cong Don. So when you come here, you can rent a boat to visit the lake and admire the beautiful scenery.

West Lake is divided by 3 dikes into 3 areas

History of West Lake Hangzhou.

During the Tang Dynasty, during the Bao Li and Changqing eras of 821-826, poet Bai Juyi went to Hangzhou to serve as a governor. With his talent, he built two dikes around West Lake to retain water and prevent the risk of drought in the dry season.

Change the landscape of West Lake.

With the dam system, the amount of water flowing out was well controlled. Therefore, the problem of drought in the neighboring farming areas was solved because they depended heavily on water from West Lake Hangzhou.

After that, he proposed a plan to change the landscape of West Lake. From planting peach and willow trees along the dike, making a walking path around the lake,… Later, that path was named Bai Dike with the meaning of thanking the merit of Bai Juyi’s church.

200 years later, during the Song Dynasty, poet Su Dongpo was sent to Hangzhou to serve as a governor. At that time, people had to endure a major drought due to the lake bed being covered with moss, blocking the irrigation water. He had people dredge the lake bed, pile up trash and mud to form a higher and wider dike. Then he continued to change the landscape around the dike and turned Su Di Xuan Hieu into one of the 10 most beautiful scenes of West Lake.

Linh An Pagoda, Long Tinh tea farm, Vo Tong tomb, Yue Fei temple, etc.

The name Tam Dan An Nguyet was also called after the surrounding scenery. The 10 most beautiful scenes of West Lake Hangzhou are: Nam Binh late bell, Hoa Cang Quan Ngu, Lieu Lang Van Oanh, Binh Ho Thu Nguyet, Loi Phong Tich Chieu, Song Phong Sap Van, Tam Dan An Nguyet, Khuc Vien Song Ha, Doan Kieu Tan Tuyet.

Transportation to Hangzhou.

If you want to go to Hangzhou, the plane is the only means of transportation, you can choose different transit flights or fly directly to Hangzhou. There are many airlines with reputable China travel fares that you can choose from: China Southern Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines…. The cost of a direct flight will be higher than when you choose a transit flight. But when choosing a direct flight, you will save a lot of time visiting Hangzhou.

Discover the beauty of West Lake.

West Lake in Hangzhou is beautiful in all four seasons. That is why the poet Su Dongpo once described: “Hangzhou with West Lake is like a person having a face, Hangzhou without West Lake is like a person having no face”. Therefore, when coming to Hangzhou without visiting this wonderful lake, it is considered that you have not encountered beauty.

Spring in West Lake.

Spring is the time when the beauty of Hangzhou’s West Lake is most clearly displayed. Along both sides of the dike are rows of green willow trees, hanging down to reflect on the clear water surface. Besides, there are many other brilliant flowers competing to show their colors such as cherry blossoms, magnolias, hibiscus, asters, osmanthus flowers, etc.

Summer in Hangzhou West Lake.

Summer comes, the whole of Hangzhou is immersed in hot climate, the scorching sun burns everything. However, coming to Hangzhou West Lake, it is very cool, each gentle breeze helps to reduce the heat somewhat.

Summer in Hangzhou West Lake.

Autumn in West Lake.

Autumn comes with a dreamy beauty to West Lake. The hazy sky reflects on the lake surface, clouds drift lazily, and rustling winds blow with waves of fallen yellow leaves. In particular, autumn is also the season of the moon, when you come here you will be able to admire the beautiful scene of the moon reflecting on the water: “A bright moon in the sky, three moons reflecting on the water surface”.

Autumn in West Lake.

West Lake winter.

When winter comes, the entire Hangzhou area is covered in white snow. Everywhere is a sad white color, the tree trunks are bare. At West Lake, there are Broken Bridge and Love Bridge, two very hot check-in spots. Many couples choose to come here to make a date, together admiring the wild, immense beauty of the frozen water.

Hangzhou West Lake offers visitors not only the peace of nature but also the combination of historical and modern architecture, creating a unique and attractive space that will make you remember it forever.