Hangzhou Photo Gallery

Introduction
Seven centuries ago, Marco Polo pronounced Hangzhou "the finest, most splendid city in the world . . . where so many pleasures may be found that one fancies oneself to be in Paradise." Today, Hangzhou's claim to paradise does not lie in its streets, which are ordinary, but in its shoreline and the surrounding countryside, where strolling and biking are the best you'll find in the Middle Kingdom.

West Lake
The focus of Hangzhou's exceptional beauty is West Lake (Xi Hu). It's a small lake, about 5km (3 miles) across and 14km (9 miles) around. The islets and temples, pavilions and gardens, causeways and arched bridges of this jadelike lake have constituted the supreme example of lakeside beauty in China ever since Hangzhou served as China's capital during the Southern Song Dynasty (A.D. 1127-1279). Hangzhou's West Lake remains to this day what one 12th-century visitor proclaimed it: "a landscape composed by a painter."

Qinghefang

Street Scenes

Skyscrapers

New Hangzhou

Buses

Miscellaneous Photos


Introduction Seven centuries ago, Marco Polo pronounced Hangzhou "the finest, most splendid city in the world . . . where so many pleasures may be found that one fancies oneself to be in Paradise." Today, Hangzhou's claim to paradise does not lie in its streets, which are ordinary, but in its shoreline and the surrounding countryside, where strolling and biking are the best you'll find in the Middle Kingdom.
West Lake The focus of Hangzhou's exceptional beauty is West Lake (Xi Hu). It's a small lake, about 5km (3 miles) across and 14km (9 miles) around. The islets and temples, pavilions and gardens, causeways and arched bridges of this jadelike lake have constituted the supreme example of lakeside beauty in China ever since Hangzhou served as China's capital during the Southern Song Dynasty (A.D. 1127-1279). Hangzhou's West Lake remains to this day what one 12th-century visitor proclaimed it: "a landscape composed by a painter."









































Qinghefang




Street Scenes












Skyscrapers






New Hangzhou






Buses





Miscellaneous Photos