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 At
about 8am you will be picked up at your hotel by your
English-speaking guide and driver. From your hotel we�ll get
started on your day tour with a visit to Hangzhou�s iconic
West Lake. Hangzhou�s most well-known attraction, West Lake
is a man-made lake and is created after the Chinese love for
garden- style parks for recreation. Hangzhou's West Lake
Scenic Area, in the southwest of the city, covers 60 square
kilometers (23 square miles), of which West Lake itself
occupies 5.6 square kilometers (2.2 square miles). West Lake
is a place of tranquility where urbanity becomes a
silhouette on the northeast horizon and mountains near and
far surround it on the other three sides. The occasional
pagoda and Chinese-style arched bridge add atmosphere to the
tree-lined walkways, verdant islands and hills.
After about an hour of strolling along West Lake, we�ll then
head to the Linyin Temple. Commonly translated as the
"Temple of the Soul's Retreat", Linyin Temple is one of the
largest and wealthiest temples in China. It was originally
founded in 326 AD, but has been rebuilt no less than sixteen
times since then. The current buildings are modern
restorations of late Qing buildings. The hillside to the
south of the temple is also famous as a site of old Buddhist
caves and rock carvings. Many of these date back to the time
when
the temple was first founded and a great many were carved
during the blossoming of Buddhism during the Tang dynasty.
Despite some damage inflicted by red guards during the
Cultural Revolution, the temple and grounds escaped much of
the wholesale destruction that other temples in China
suffered because of the protection of Premier Zhou Enlai.
Today the temple is thriving, though most of the thousands
of visitors who come do so for sightseeing and not for
religious reasons.
We�ll take a short rest for lunch, and then we�ll continue
on to Six Harmonies Pagoda. Located on the north bank of the
Qiantang River, Six Harmonies Pagoda was built in 970 to
dispel the river's tidal bore, which was thought to be an
evil manifestation. It was believed that unwanted natural
phenomenon could be subdued by the building of pagodas,
according to Buddhist understanding. Fortunately for tourism
in Hangzhou the tidal waves don�t seem to have been
significantly suppressed, and still hold the world record of
9 meters (30 feet). Liuhe Ta, Six Harmonies Pagoda, was once
a seven-storey stone pagoda, but later a 13-story wooden
pagoda was built around the outside enclosing the wooden
structure. The top level, accessed by a spiral staircase in
the stone pagoda, offers a fine view of the surrounding
mountains, the Qiantang River and Qiantang River Great
Bridge, which is the largest double-decker (road above, rail
below) bridge built in China. The ceiling of each level is
carved and painted with flowers, birds and animals in an
elegant and delicate style.
Afterwards we�ll return to West Lake to view one of its most
gorgeous viewing spots, �Viewing Fish in the Flowering
Harbor�. This spot is located at the southern end of Su
Causeway. A clean stream flows from Huajia Hill to join West
Lake here, and many flowers grow where the fresh water flows
in, so it called "Flowery Harbor". This area now has been
made into a 22 hectare (54 acre) park with many varieties of
trees and flowers, featuring a peony garden which blooms in
April and a goldfish pond which is the famous site for
viewing fish.
To top off our tour we�ll pay
a visit to the nearby village of Meijiawu. Meijiawu Village
is located in the western part of the
West Lake scenic area. It has a history of over 600 years.
Situated among lush green hills, it is a rustic, natural
scenic spot. You can have a tea culture experience by
learning tea picking and processing. It also showcases tea
products of all kinds including jasmine tea, Dragon Well
tea, green tea, black tea, and wulong tea.
Following our visit to the tea plantation you will be
dropped off at your hotel no later than 5PM.
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