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Sightseeing Overview
As the Hangzhou’s historical centerpiece, West Lake is surrounded by attractive parks, pagodas and temples. The lake itself is beautiful, and cut in half by a broad causeway popular with walkers and cyclists. Here there are more gardens, shrines, bridges and places to catch the small wooden boats that cruise the lake. Leifeng Pagoda offers fabulous views across the lake and city beyond.

Most visitors understandably make a beeline for the Lingyin Temple, one of China’s largest and best-preserved Buddhist temples. The Dragon Well, home to world-famous Longjing tea, makes for a pleasant excursion. Very popular is the hourly Dancing Music Fountains show at the Hubin Road esplanade, which features choreographed water spray and music - it’s a little kitsch but rather impressive when illuminated at night.

Discovering Hangzhou means a lot of walking, but for some rest and relaxation, Xihu Tiandi is a leafy, lakeside dining and drinking built by the developers of Shanghai’s Xintiandi. There are several good restaurants and cafes here, including possibly the most attractive Starbucks coffee house in the world.

Across the street, the lakefront Hubin Road shopping plaza features Swarovski, Hermes and Armani. Shoppers seeking traditional Hangzhou silks and souvenirs should head for Fenqi Road, a recreated Hangzhounese silk bazaar.

Tourist Information
Hangzhou Municipal Tourist Information Center
288 Yanan Road, near Jiangjun Road (across the street from Carrefour supermarket)
Tel: (571) 8792 5050.

The tourist information center publishes a good English-language guide and city and lake maps, but staff are rather unhelpful and speak little English.

Passes
There are currently no tourist passes for sightseeing in Hangzhou.

Key Attractions:

West Lake
Impossible to miss, this vast lake fringed by hills is Hangzhou’s richest treasure. Best accessed via the paved esplanade in front of the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Hubin Road, grab a map and take your choice between exploring in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction (here’s a clue, most local tourists go clockwise, and it can get very crowded at weekends). Allow at least one full day to enjoy the parks and temples around the lake. Many of the most historic attractions are dotted around the Beishan Road area, while the Hubin Road esplanade is a pleasant place to sit and watch the day, or early evening, go by.

Lingyin Temple
Known locally as Lingyin Si (Temple of the Soul’s Retreat), this is one of China’s largest and most spectacular Buddhist temples. The entrance is magnificent, passing through shallow caves and grottos featuring over 400 Buddhist rock carvings, many dating from the 10th to 14th centuries. The incense-filled working temple boasts four grand halls, each more lavish and colorful than the last. The stand-out is the 12m- (39ft-) high Hall of the 500 Arhats, which features 500 human-sized sitting Buddhist saints, each holding his own symbol, arranged in the formation of a giant swastika.

1 Fayun Road
Free admission

Leifeng Pagoda
Halfway around the lake from downtown is the octagonal, five-story Leifeng Pagoda. Originally built in 975 AD by Qian Hongchu, king of Wuyue, to celebrate the birth of a son, the structure has since been rebuilt. However, uncovered brick ruins of the original building are open for viewing. Climbing to the top floor yields fabulous views across the lake, islands, bridges and gardens - and the sprawling city beyond.

15 Nanshan Road
Admission charge

Baopu Taoist Temple
Located in leafy woods on Ge Hill, named after a famous Taoist master who lived here, this splendid Taoist temple is peaceful, colorful and charming. The only Taoist temple in Zhejiang province, it features incense smoke drifting around the courtyards, ornate carved wooden facades, and its upturned grey slate roofs echo a China rapidly receding into history.

Ge Hill (sometimes called Baoshi Hill)
Free admission.

Jiangnan Stone Garden
This tranquil Chinese water garden is a serene spot to sit, relax and reflect. Set amid a beautiful leafy backdrop, the garden features numerous pagodas, slate-capped whitewashed walls, arches and stone statues. The garden is landscaped around lakes and ponds. There’s also a small restaurant and pleasant teahouse.

89 Beishan Road
Admission charge.

Further Distractions:

Lingyin Cable Car
Located adjacent to the Lingyin Temple, the cable car wends its way up into the hills over looking the west part of West Lake. The views from the top across the lake, taking in the tea plantations below and the sprawling city to the north, are sensational.

1 Fayun Road
Admission charge.

The China Tea Museum
The only museum in China dedicated to tea, charts all aspects of Chinese tea tasting customs and the provenance and history of several of the nation’s most famous infusions, as well as displaying a broad selection of tea pots and drinking vessels (Closed Monday morning).

25 Gushan Road
Tel: (571) 8798 0281.
Admission charge.

Zhejiang Provincial Museum
This museum counts a collection of more than 100,000 cultural relics and artifacts from across the province. Closed Monday morning.

25 Gushan Road
Admission charge.

China Silk Museum
Hangzhou is a center of China’s traditional silk industry and the China Silk Museum charts the history of silk culture and the clothing products that helped make the city one of China’s wealthiest and most cultured.

73 Yuhuangshan Road
Tel: (571) 8706 2129.
Admission charge.

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