Walk the causeways of West Lake in Hangzhou

What the experience is

West Lake lies beside the centre of Hangzhou, enclosed by hills on three sides. It is small: 3.2 kilometres from north to south, 2.8 from east to west, with a shoreline of 15 kilometres and an average depth of little more than two metres. Its fame rests on a thousand years of poetry, painting and garden-making, recognised by UNESCO in 2011 when the lake was inscribed as a cultural landscape.

Two causeways cross the water, each named after a poet who governed the city. Walking them, with the lake on both sides, is the classic way to see it.

The two causeways

The Bai Causeway, in the north, is associated with the Tang poet Bai Juyi. It existed before the Tang dynasty and was reinforced in the eighth century. It begins at the Broken Bridge, one of the Ten Scenes of West Lake when snow lies on it, and leads to Gushan, Solitary Hill, the lake’s only natural island.

The Su Causeway was built in 1089 by Su Shi, the Song poet also known as Su Dongpo, while he was prefect, using the silt dredged from the lake. It runs from the north shore to Huagang on the south, across six arched bridges that let boats pass. “Spring Dawn at Su Causeway” is the first of the Ten Scenes. A third embankment further west, the Yanggong Causeway, dates from 1508.

From the Su Causeway the three small man-made islands are visible, and to the south the Leifeng Pagoda, which collapsed in 1924 and was rebuilt in 2002.

When to go

Go at first light. By mid-morning the paths are crowded, especially at weekends and in holiday weeks. Spring, when peach and willow line the causeways, and autumn are the best seasons. Mist and light rain suit the lake well.

Good to know

A walk from the Broken Bridge along the Bai Causeway, across Gushan and down the Su Causeway to the south shore is roughly six kilometres and flat throughout. Boats cross from several piers to the island of Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon. The lakeside is free to enter.

Why OKYTO recommends it

The lake is a designed landscape that has served as a model for gardens across China, Japan and Korea, and it is best understood on foot. Continue into the tea hills behind it to pick and taste Longjing.