Sir Georg Solti in Early Spring

Spring Dawn at Su Causeway tops the list of the ten best known sights in Hangzhou. The causeway was built during the Northern Song Dynasty by Su Dongpo (1037-1101), a great scholar and famous poet, and was named after him. Stretching 2.8 kilometers (1.7 miles), it includes six bridges and is heavily sheltered by green vegetation. When spring comes, the whole causeway is blanketed by peach blossoms and weeping willows, creating an especially charming scene. It is the first to be mentioned in the ... View Detail

Quyuanfenghe

The most remarkable view of this area in Yue Lake is the summer lotus. Over 100 species of lotus are planted and small bridges are built connecting the whole scene spot, offering a close observation to the blooming lotus. The stone tablet inscribed with the name of this scene is one of the two remaining tablets given by the Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722) of Qing Dynasty (1636-1911). This particular scene has earned its name from the fact that it had an abundance of lotus plants growing along its ... View Detail

Yunqi bamboo trail

This attraction locates southwest to the West Lakt, on the North Bank of Qiantang River and in Wuyun Hill Yunqi Village. "Yunqi" means clouds lingering. It is said that some auspicious color clouds came flying from the nearby Color Clouds Hill and lingered on here, hence the name. Bamboo - Lined Path at Yunqi is well known for its quietness and coolness. One Chinese sweet gum tree is above the age of 1000. The famous stone paved footpath leading into the Yunqi valley is lined with hundreds of ... View Detail

Liulangwenying

Once an imperial park in the Southern Song Dynasty, Orioles Singing in the Willows is off the Southeast bank of the West Lake. The park was so named after the pier (Liulang Pier) and the bridge (Liulang Bridge). Orioles Singing in the Willows was recognized as one of the Ten Views of the West Lake in the Southern Song Dynasty, but began to be neglected from the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) on. The park came back to life again 1950s by a series of refurbishing projects. Today, the park covers an ... View Detail

Jiuxi eighth Stream

About 20 minutes north of the Qiantang River from Liuhe Pagoda, the Nine Creeks and Eighteen Gullies make for a lovely stroll or bike ride through attractive countryside. Heading north from the river, the main path passes through paddies and tea terraces, along pleasant streams and, ultimately, to a small lagoon, a teahouse and the Longjing Tea Plantations further into the hills, terminating at Longjing Village. You can also head south from the village toward the river. The most attractive part ... View Detail

Gushan

Have you heard the story about 'Plum wife and crane son'? Lin Bu, also called Lin Hejing, was a real hermit and a talented poet in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). In addition to compose poems and paintings, he put all his spare time into planting plum trees and raising cranes. Be differ from others, he didn't get married all his life, and as a consequence, people took plum blossom as his wife and considered cranes his children. As for the place he lived, it is today we called ... View Detail

Santanyinyue

Three Pools Mirroring the Moon, shown on the 1 RMB note, is located in the south central portion of Hangzhou's West Lake. The name also refers to Xiaoying Island, one of the three islands in West Lake, along with Mid-Lake Pavilion (Hu Xin Ting) and Ruan Gong Islet (Ruan Gong Dun). The three pools refer to the three pear-shaped pagodas arranged in a triangle in the water. Erected by the poet and public official Su Shi, their purpose was to indicate that water chestnuts and lotus plants were ... View Detail

Bai Causeway

Solitary Island is connected to downtown Hangzhou by Baidi, one of the two great man-made causeways that divide West Lake into three parts. These two causeways are the finest stretches to walk on West Lake. Both are scenic and serene. The Bai Causeway is named after a Tang Dynasty poet, Bai Juyi, who was the great poet in the Tang Dynasty (618-907A.D). He once supervised over some constructions of the West Lake (Bai Causeway included) after serving as the local governor of Hangzhou from 822 to ... View Detail

Liu Xia gem

Baoshi Hill located on the northern side of the West Lake (Northern Interior Part of West lake) is the famous scenic area. Baoshi Hill is 78 meters high and belongs to tuff and rhyolite. It is rich in ferric oxide, so it looks deep red and under the sunshine, it seems like the flowing glow as beautiful as jade, carnelian and emerald, hence it is named Baoshi Hill or Gem Hill. In the list of New Top Ten Scenes of The West Lake, it is described as a scene named Bao Shi Liu Xia( Precious stone ... View Detail

Broken Bridge

The most romantic, in origin, of the ten scenic sites is surely the one called Melting Snow on Broken Bridge. According to legend, Broken Bridge, which is not really broken, but is a traditional arched stone bridge, is the site where two lovers, Xu Xian and a beautiful maiden, who is actually a white snake, met and fell madly in love. In early spring, when the snow begins to melt, it melts on one side of the bridge first, due the fact that the other side is in shade, which gives the bridge a ... View Detail