---
node: spot_hangzhou_west_lake
type: spot
slug: west_lake
destination: dest_hangzhou
title: "West Lake"
lead: "West Lake is the 6.4-square-kilometre lake that Hangzhou is built around, and the model that Chinese garden design copied for a thousand years. It is a UNESCO cultural landscape, not a nature reserve — every causeway and island was placed."
published: 2026-08-12
updated: 2026-08-12
image_file: spot_hangzhou_west_lake.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20260424_West_Lake_and_Hangzhou_Skyline.jpg"
image_author: "Windmemories"
image_license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

## Overview

The lake was a lagoon until the eighth century, when it was dredged and embanked; the Bai and Su causeways are named for the poet-officials who built them. Ten prescribed views, fixed in the Song dynasty, still organise how the lake is seen and are marked by stelae. Entry is free, which for a site of this standing is unusual in China.

## Highlights

Walk or cycle the Su Causeway, 2.8 kilometres of willows and arched bridges across the water. Take a boat to Three Pools Mirroring the Moon, the island with the stone pagodas on the one-yuan note. Sunset from Broken Bridge, and the lake at first light before the tour groups, are the two times worth planning around.