Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, is considered the most elegant and beautiful city in all China. First built over 2.200 years ago, is one of the cradles of China's civilization, famous for its natural beauty and historical and cultural heritages.The digging of the Grand Canal between Hangzhou and Beijing made the city a hub of communications. Numerous philosophers, politicians, and men of literature, including some of the most celebrated poets in Chinese history came here to live and die.
It was a thriving spiritual center of Buddhism and Taoism in the 13th century and the city still has some of China’s oldest surviving temples, which draw pilgrims and tourists every year. Hangzhou not only has Southern Song royal palace relics, but also has Qing Emperor’s resort and many elegant gardens. Most of the gardens are backed by natural scenery. The gardening style stresses elegance and delicacy, which is an important sect in Chinese gardening art.Hangzhou is endowed with high value historical relics，which are characterized by long time span and rich varieties.
The magnificent West Lake
One of the most enchanting features of Hangzhou is West Lake, a fresh water lagoon that ranges about 3 square miles (nine miles in circumference). The entire lake area is comprised of three man-made islands and a causeway that divides the waterway into five lakes. Cultivated by the Chinese culture for more than one thousand years, the West lake has become a classical masterpiece and a national cultural icon. It presents the Chinese Philosophy of the art of living. It has achieved the most romantic and aesthetic objective of the Chinese: to create a worldly heaven for their life, for harmony, enjoyment, being with nature for ever.
The west lake was an open garden where emperors, scholars, citizens, officials, the successful, the failures and the religious, were gathering.It had fundamental characteristics of high culture but its language was shared by all Chinese. It was a collective work by multiple social groups. It was this tolerance and openness of the West lake that created such unlimited values in poetry, novels, painting, legends, operas, garden and architecture that influenced the whole country. West Lake is one of China's most cherished scenic resort areas, as well as international tourist destination.
Visitors enjoy peaceful boat rides with views of the surrounding Chinese landscaped gardens, mountains, stone bridges and three stone pagodas named, Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon, that emerge from the lake.The traditional landscaped Chinese gardens surrounding West Lake are captivating to walk through. Swaying willow and sycamore trees accent small stone bridges that lead the visitor over ponds filled with Koi. Their still waters reflect the beautiful gardens and hillsides; it seems as if you're gazing at an exquisite painting. Pagoda-covered benches and flowers of artistic design dot the gardens as you meander your way through this paradise with free-roaming peacocks echoing their haunting cry.
Impression West Lake
A scene in heaven, and a dream on earth.
In the evening, West Lake takes on a magical appearance with the production of Impressions, by acclaimed Chinese director Zhang YiMou, of the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. This fantastic multi-million dollar production runs 364 days a year and takes place on and in West Lake.The stage is set on the lake itself, giving the impression that the performers are floating on water.
The audience is seated in a semi-circle at the edge of the lake with a panoramic view of the performance. In a dream-like setting, actors present the 1000 year-old myths that are associated with the lake. Colorful and ornate sets cast against multi-hued lighting of the surrounding park, tell a tale of impossible love with a passion that is profound. Fluid music accompanies enormous water features that cascade with changing form and color to highlight the show's dramatic scenes. And, lighted boats carry the actors through scenes of intense drama.
Impressions is a magnificent and unique production that astonishes all who experience it; there is nothing else like it in the world.Impression of West Lake is an amazing show worth watching when traveling to Hangzhou.The hour-long show presents the famous Ten Sights of West Lake on the stage. In fact the whole performance consists of several story lines by showing different ancient stories and famous people. The enchanting music of Kitaro adds charm to the show.The seats are in the open air and there are cheap tickets and VIP seats.
Unique hidden style auditorium.
The unique telescopic ladder auditorium is designed for the "Impression West Lake" landscape theater. In daytime, the entire auditorium is broken up into parts and immerged in the peripheral environment, thus the original landscape of the West Lake not be affected. In nighttime , the auditorium is unfolded and a top-grade urban landscape theater is presented and the audience have a unique prospective where they are personally on the scene.
Zhang Yimou is the pioneer of this green trend."The environment of the West Lake does not only belong to the city of Hangzhou, or China. It belongs to the whole world. The performance is just a small example when one takes into account the large environmental issue. We've spent a year on environmental protection. Even the route for the audience to enter and exit the site is designed to be environmentally friendly."
The former mansion of Xueyan Hu
Hu Xueyan was born in 1823 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, and died there in 1885. He started his career in his early youth as an assistant in a private bank and later established a bank of his own with the help of friends. Because Hu Xueyan helped General Zuo Zhongtang put down rebellions, the imperial court of the Qing Dynasty allowed him to wear a red cap and cited him as an honorary official. He was honored with the privileges of dressing in the yellow costume of officials and riding a horse in the Forbidden City. Besides banking, he expanded his business to such trades as grains, real estate, pawnbroking, and the import and export of munitions and silk. Later, he established the famous Huqing Yutang Drugstore for traditional Chinese medicine and became the richest merchant in the region.
Hu's life story has become the material for novels, movies, and television plays. The construction of Hu Xueyan's residence began in 1872 on Baoyuan Street in Hangzhou and continued for three years. The residence was a complex of more than 20 buildings in the typical landscape style of the south of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River and an example of the magnificent residences of the late Qing Dynasty. In 1999, the residence of Hu Xueyan was designated as a historical relic under the protection of the city of Hangzhou, and the renovation of the buildings began. During the renovation, many high-quality building materials such as red sandalwood and nanmu wood (Phoebe nanmu) were used. In January 2001, the renovation project was completed, and Hu's residence regained its original appearance, including exquisite brick, wood, and stone sculptures.
West Lake - World Nature Heritage
West Lake, named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011, was described as a cultural landscape that has influenced garden design in the rest of China as well as in Japan and Korea over the centuries and reflects the idealized fusion between humans and nature of traditional China. This is a cultural treasure that has influenced poets and painters throughout the ages for its natural beauty and historical relics. It has also been among the most important sources of inspiration for Chinese garden designers via the numerous temples, pagodas, gardens, and artificial islands within the lake.
