Hanging Out In Hangzhou – West Lake

Dave and I have been making our way through China, starting in the North – Beijing and making our way South, first to Xi’an (for teracotta warriors) then to Shanghai, and finally Hangzhou (Couchsurfing all the way). We thought that after we left the “big cities” we’d be in more rural China, but Hangzhou has over 8 million people and couldn’t be farther from that.

The main attraction is West Lake, a massive lake, which takes over 5 hours to walk around. We are beginning to notice that the Chinese have very detailed names for scenic spots, usually describing what they think it looks like. For example, the 10 most famous spots in the West Lake are:

• Dawn on the Su Causeway in Spring (蘇堤春曉)
• Curved Yard and Lotus Pool in Summer (曲院風荷)
• Moon over the Peaceful Lake in Autumn (平湖秋月)
• Remnant Snow on the Bridge in Winter (斷橋殘雪)
• Leifeng Pagoda in the Sunset (雷峰夕照)
• Two Peaks Piercing the Clouds (雙峰插雲)
• Orioles Singing in the Willows (柳浪聞鶯)
• Fish Viewing at the Flower Pond (花港觀魚)
• Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon (三潭印月)
• Evening Bell Ringing at the Nanping Hill (南屏晚鐘)

Here are my photos from the West Lake: