This morning, I rose up happily thinking about our first destination today - The West Lake or Xi Hu (Xi means West, Hu means Lake). So much have been said about the magnificent West Lake and I look forward to check it out up close and take the boat ride.

We arrived at the serene West Lake and I could feel morning breeze gently stroking my cheek. Even though it was not a weekend, this place was packed with local and foreign tourists. Our West Lake expedition started off at the beginning of Su Causeway (2.8 kilometers long). The lake is divided by three causeways namely Su Causeway, Bai Causeway and Yanggong Causeway.
We waited to get into the boat and when it was our turn, my hubby and I swiftly boarded onto the boat and we took first row seat! Talking about being kiasu today!

As we were seated on the first row, we get to examine the front panel of the boat. Apparently, this boat was electrical-powered hence when it started moving, it was surprisingly quiet. It is also enclosed and air-conditioned and we figured out the air-con unit must be powered by generator set.

As the cruise progress, we listened to the explanation by the cruise boat leader. She spoke only Mandarin. Here are few facts about The West Lake that we managed to gather. West Lake has an area of 6.78 square kilometers, the average depth being 2.27 meters and the deepest being 5 meters. It has mountains on three sides and remaining one side facing the city.

The West Lake is also the centre of attraction and part of 59 square kilometers of what has been declared as The West Lake Scenic Area. Wow! This place is really huge. Therefore, to cover the entire place on foot is an uphill task and one might need a few days to do so. There are bicycle and golf cart for rent or some may prefer to hop on sightseeing bus round the West Lake.

There are more than 60 cultural relic sites and another 100 or more scenic spots, the famous ones being Ten Scenes of the West Lake and New Ten Scenes of the West Lake with profound names such as 'Spring Dawn at Su Causeway', 'Lingering Snow on the Broken Bridge', 'Viewing Fish at Flower Pond', etcs. During our cruise, we managed to capture one famous scenic spot, i.e. 'Three Pools Mirroring the Moon' (below) which is also one of the deepest spot in Xi Hu.

Check out the stone lanterns. In total, there are three such lanterns, each with five holes and height of 2 meters. During full moon, candles are lit up in these lanterns poking out of the water thus creating the impression of the reflections of three moons, hence the name.

During our cruise, we were also informed about the origin of The West Lake. The West Lake came from a shallow bay in ancient times where Qiantang River ran into the sea, thus it was ever called Qiantang Lake, or even XiZi Lake (name after a beautiful lady during that time).

Overtime, this shallow bay almost lost its water source. To prevent this from happening and drying off totally, few projects were launched, one being the lake-wide sewage interception project in 1978, completed in 1981. Underground sewage tunnels were built and equipped with 10 pumping stations.

In 1985, The West Lake Diversion Project was initiated. This project built an additional pump at Zhakou section of Qiantang River, and drew 300,000 cubic meters of water daily, equivalent to one-third of total capacity of the lake. Therefore, to the question - is West Lake is man-made? The answer is both yes and no . As we approached the end of the cruise, we came close to the end of Su Causeway. This area seems to have highest concentration of lotus flowers.

Summer is hot, but it the best time to view booming lotus


After the cruise, we left The West Lake and nearby we spotted a beautiful pagoda - Leifeng Pagoda. It is an octagonal, five-storey structure, originally built in year AD 977. It collapsed in 1924 and was rebuilt in 2002.


The new structure is 71.96m high, built on steel with sightseeing elevators. At the bottom is the Museum of Leifeng Pagoda that contains well-kept treasures discovered in an underground chamber.

This Pagoda is fame for its association with the Chinese legends of Lady White Snake. When I was young, I remember watching this love-story on TV featuring the Lady White Snake with her sister, the Green Snake who possess magical powers to disguise themselves as beautiful women. Eventually, the White Snake fell in love with Xu Xian, but was separated by a monk who kept Xu Xian in this Leifeng Pagoda.

There are other activities around the West Lake, which we didn't manage to cover due to our short trip. We were told that there are many tea houses in the surrounding of the lake. The locals, especially - they just love to hang out with family or friends, playing mahjong while taking breakfast or sipping Longjing tea, another specialty of Hangzhou.

In my part three on Hangzhou, I shall share about my visit to tea village and Song Dynasty Culture Theme park, another place not to be missed.

Stay tuned!

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