Zhejiang, China
FeaturedHangzhou
West Lake and Tea Culture
Hangzhou is built around West Lake, a UNESCO World Heritage site that has shaped Chinese garden design and poetry for a thousand years. It's also the heart of China's Longjing green tea production, with tea houses and plantations within the city's surrounding hills.
Best time to visit: March-May, September-November
Explore Hangzhou by theme
Highlights
- West Lake
A UNESCO World Heritage lake bordered by gardens, temples, and causeways, shaped by over a thousand years of landscaping and referenced constantly in Chinese poetry and painting.
- Lingyin Temple
A large Buddhist temple complex set against forested hills outside central Hangzhou, founded over 1,600 years ago and still an active site of worship and pilgrimage.
- Longjing Tea Plantations
Terraced green tea plantations in the hills west of West Lake, source of Longjing (Dragon Well) tea, one of China's most well-known green tea varieties.