• "Zhejiang Cultural Imprints" is a series of introductory articles introducing some of the most influential cultural heritages and cultural imprints in Zhejiang province. Today, we will show you a famous lake in Zhejiang - West Lake, which has already been inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. 

(Hangzhou West Lake)

Located in Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province, the West Lake, as one of the representatives of the classical beauty of China is so utterly mesmerizing: pagoda-topped hills rise over willow-lined waters as boats drift slowly through an idyll of leisurely charm. 

Originally a lagoon adjoining the Qiantang River, the lake didn’t come into existence until the 8th century, when the governor of Hangzhou had the marshy expanse dredged. As time passed, the lake’s splendor was gradually cultivated: gardens were planted, pagodas built, and causeways and islands were constructed from dredged silt.

(A panoramic view of the West Lake)

Celebrated poet Su Dongpo himself had a hand in the lake’s development, constructing the Su Causeway (苏堤, Sūdī) during his tenure as local governor in the 11th century. It wasn’t an original idea – the poet-governor Bai Juyi had already constructed the Bai Causeway (白堤, Báidī) some 200 years earlier. Lined by willow, plum, and peach trees, today the traffic-free causeways with their half-moon bridges make for restful outings.

The northwest of the lake is fringed with the lovely Quyuan Garden, a collection of gardens spread out over numerous islets and renowned for their fragrant spring lotus blossoms. Near Xiling Bridge (Xīlíng Qiáo) is Su Xiaoxiao's Tomb, a 5th-century courtesan who died of grief while waiting for her lover to return. 

According to UNESCO, the West Lake has influenced garden design in the rest of China as well as Japan and Korea over the centuries and bears exceptional testimony to the cultural tradition of improving landscapes to create a series of vistas reflecting an idealized fusion between humans and nature.