Hangzhou Tour HZ1 - West Lake Cruise, Hua Gang Park, Ling Yin Temple, Dragon-Well Tea Village

West Lake Cruise - click here to view picture
West Lake, called so because it lies in the west of the city, is what the beauty of Hangzhou is all about. Skirted by mountains on three sides, and with the fourth side bordering the urban district, West Lake covers a water surface of 6 square km, yet it forms the centre of a garden resort that sprawls on a land of 49 square km, where the mountains, caves and vales are knitted together by a maze of winding brooks and streams, studded with well sequestered ponds, and graced with kiosks, chambers and pavilions.

Legend has it that West Lake was originally a jewel fallen from heaven. Actually it is a lagoon formed as a result of natural changes and human efforts. Ten thousand years ago, the lake was much larger than its present surface of 6 square km. Later, as silt accumulated and weeds overgrew, the lake shrank in size. The present West Lake consists of 5 sections, namely the Outer Lake, North Inner Lake, Yuehu Lake, West Inner Lake and Lesser South Lake.

The beauty of the West Lake lies in a lingering charm that survives the change of seasons in a year, of hours in a day, and of different weathers. All told, there are 50 major scenic spots and 30 or so sites of key historical and cultural interest surrounding the West Lake.

Hua Gang (Flower Habor) Park - click here to view picture
The Hua Gang Park (Flower Harbor Park) lies at the southern end of the Su Causeway, against the West Hill, and has an area of 20 hectares.

Initially, the park was a small private garden built and owned by Lu Yunsheng, an imperial official of the South Song Dynasty. The garden was located near the Flower Home Hill. Inside the park was a fishpond and a stream nearby was ushered into the pond for raising goldfish. Later the private garden began to gain a big fame in Hangzhou as Flower Harbor and became a recreation resort for viewing goldfishes. Painters and poets vied each other for depicting the garden in their inspirational artworks. In the Qing Dynasty, the park was relocated in today's place, much nearer to the West Lake.

In the park there are four sections, the Peony Yard, the Red Fish Pool, the Thick Forest Zone and the New Flower Harbor. In the Peony Yard there are more than 800 species of peony, the Red Fish Pool is full of flowers and plants, with fish playing in the water and breeze bringing petals every where, thus presenting a poetic scene of "flowers touching the fish and the fish kissing the flowers".

Qing's Emperor Kang Xi visited this park some 300 years ago and left a handwritten tablet in honor of the fishes in the park.

Ling Yin Temple - click here to view picture
This is one of the ten most famous ancient Buddhist temples in China dating back to the Song dynasty about 1000 years. There is a local saying in china that "there is a temple in every hill, in the case of Lingyin temple, the hill is in the temple compound". Towering over the foot of the statuesque mountain of the same name, Lingyin (Soul's Retreat) Temple is a major ancient Buddhist sanctuary in the possession of a rich trove of cultural treasures.

Construction began in AD 326, or the founding year of the Xianhe reign of the Eastern Jin. Enshrined with 330 stone sculptures wrought during the Five Dynasties and the Song and Yuan dynasties, the Feilai Peak (Peak that Appears out of Nowhere) in front of the temple figures prominently in classical Chinese history.

Various Chinese Emperors visited this temple in its history - Qing's Emperor Qian Long visited this temple some 300 years ago.

Dragon-Well Tea Village
Here you will visit the tea plantation where the famous Dragon-Well Tea is grown. Tea drinking is a culture in china for century and Hangzhou's Dragon-Well tea is ranked amongst the top brand. The quality of tea is differentiated by the season of picking - with Mar-Apr Spring period being the best. You will be treated to tea-tasting and the nutritious value enjoyed by chinese for many centuries.

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