West Lake

West Lake, Xi Hu, lies on the western side of the city of Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province, eastern China. It is surrounded on three sides by wooded hills, with the city along its eastern shore, and covers about 6.4 square kilometres.

The lake was originally a lagoon of the Qiantang River that was cut off and gradually shaped by people. Two poet-officials left lasting marks: Bai Juyi, governor of Hangzhou in the 820s, and Su Shi, also known as Su Dongpo, in the late 11th century. Both organised dredging and built causeways that still divide the lake. Hangzhou was capital of the Southern Song dynasty, when the lake and its views became a favourite subject of painters and poets. UNESCO inscribed the West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou as a World Heritage Site in 2011.

The Su Causeway and the Bai Causeway are lined with willows and peach trees and connect bridges and islands. Three Pools Mirroring the Moon has three small stone pagodas rising from the water, shown on the back of the one yuan note. Leifeng Pagoda, first built in 975, collapsed in 1924 and rebuilt in 2002, overlooks the southern shore. Nearby attractions include Lingyin Temple, the Yue Fei Temple and the tea villages of Longjing in the hills. The traditional Ten Scenes of West Lake name views tied to seasons and times of day.

Walking around the lake and along the causeways is free. Boats to the islands, Leifeng Pagoda and some gardens charge fees. Weekends and Chinese public holidays are very crowded.

The lake is shallow. Its average depth is about 2.27 metres, with a maximum of around 5 metres and some areas under 1 metre, and the shoreline runs roughly 15 kilometres. Gushan, or Solitary Hill, is its only natural island and is linked to the north shore by the Bai Causeway, first called the White Sand Causeway and later renamed after Bai Juyi.

Three causeways cross the water. Su Shi built the Su Causeway in 1089 from silt dredged out of the lake, and it has six bridges. A third, the Yanggong Causeway on the western side, was built in 1508 by the official Yang Mengying to control flooding and also has six bridges. Each of the Ten Scenes is marked by a stone stele carrying calligraphy by the Qianlong Emperor. Local folklore talks of three oddities, including the Broken Bridge that is not broken; the bridge is also where the lovers of the White Snake legend first meet.

In 2002 most of the scenic area dropped its entrance fee, making West Lake the first major tourist attraction in China to go free. Buddhist sites in the western hills are far older: Lingyin Temple and the Tianzhu temples date back to the fourth century. Rent a bicycle or walk the Su Causeway early in the morning, then take a boat to the islands once the day crowds build. The lake has also appeared on Chinese money more than once, including the 1979 one-yuan Foreign Exchange Certificate and the 2005 series one-yuan note.