East China
West Lake has been the subject of Chinese poetry for a thousand years, and it justifies the attention. Hangzhou pairs it with the tea country above the city and the Song-dynasty villages beyond.
The case for going
The Broken Bridge, the Causeway and a boat to the Three Pools. Best at dawn.
The Buddhist complex in the valley west of the lake, with 470 stone carvings.
The tea terraces above the lake. Visit a tea house, not a market stall.
A restored Song-dynasty village of twenty-seven houses in the tea fields.
The best explanation of Chinese tea you will find anywhere.
The canal that made Hangzhou a city, still shipping in 2026.
Practical
Temperate, humid subtropical. Cold and damp in winter, hot and humid in summer.
Hangzhou Xiaoshan (HGH) is 30 to 45 minutes from the city by metro Line 1 or 7. High-speed rail from Shanghai takes about an hour and from Nanjing about 90 minutes.
Airport. Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (HGH)
Rail. Hangzhou East is the main hub, 20 minutes from the West Lake by metro.
In pictures
Questions travellers ask
Two days: West Lake on foot and by boat on day one, Lingyin Temple and the tea hills on day two. Three with Xixi Wetland or a wet-market morning.
West of West Lake for the lake mornings, or around the Grand Canal for the old-city feel. The high-speed rail station is 20 minutes from the lake by metro.
Fly into Hangzhou Xiaoshan (HGH) or take the high-speed rail — 45 minutes to an hour from Shanghai, about 4.5 hours from Beijing. It slots between Shanghai and the water towns on most routes.
Yes. West Lake is the single most painted landscape in Chinese art, and the tea hills behind Lingyin are the quietest hour within an hour of Shanghai.
Routes through here
East China
7days
The three cities that first-time visitors to China should see, in the right order, with the trains between them already worked out. This is the route we run most often, and the one we recommend for a first trip if the traveller has a week.
From US$2,100per person
East China
4days
A deliberately unhurried route through the classical China that most itineraries speed past. Four days, two of them in Suzhou, one in a water town and one in Hangzhou for the lake.
From US$1,100per person
Combine it with
Where to eat
Michelin 2 Stars
Hangzhou’s first two-star restaurant: chef Fu Yueliang’s seventy-odd revisions of Longjing shrimp and West Lake vinegar…
Michelin 1 Star
The Four Seasons’ long-starred Hangzhou dining room — West Lake fish in vinegar, Dongpo pork and tea-scented courses…
Michelin 1 Star
A one-star farmhouse in the Longjing tea hills where nearly everything on the plate is grown, raised or foraged on the…
Michelin 1 Star
Starred dining inside an osmanthus-forested hillside house: tea-smoked courses, osmanthus desserts and Hangzhou river…
Michelin Green Star
Hangzhou’s first Green Star: a plant-based kitchen built on local sourcing, zero-waste practice and the "heaven and…
Local Institution
"Know taste, then know view" — serving xiaolongbao, cat-ear noodles and West Lake treats since 1913, still the most…
Where to stay
Aman · Ultra Luxury
A restored hillside village of Song-dynasty dwellings in the tea fields above West Lake. Twenty-seven houses, one village — and no two rooms alike.
From US$960 per night
Valid to 2026-12-31
Conrad · Luxury
On the Fuchun River in the Fuchun mountains, the gateway to the new Longmen caves and a half hour from Hangzhou airport.
From US$1,430 per night
Valid to 2026-12-31
