Meet the Beauty

West Lake sits on the western edge of Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province. It is one of China's best-known freshwater lakes and among the country's earliest key scenic areas. In 2011, the "Cultural Landscape of West Lake" was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Low hills wrap around three sides of the lake. The water covers about 6.4 square kilometres, with a shoreline loop of nearly 15 km. Solitary Hill, Baidi, Sudi and Yanggong Causeway gently divide the lake into five parts: Outer West Lake, West Inner Lake, North Inner Lake, Little South Lake and Yue Lake.

The charm of West Lake hides in small turns and changes of light: snow resting on Broken Bridge, sunset over Leifeng Pagoda, spring willows along Su Causeway, summer lotus in Quyuan Garden… Each view is not just a postcard, but a piece of the lake's thousand-year story.