The Post-Rain West Lake

Plan your Hangzhou tour? West Lake would be your highlight on your Hangzhou trip. West Lake is likened to the Chinese classical novel “A Dream of Red Mansions” or the Bible, which you are unable to read totally. The West Lake scene changes with the different moments, different seasons and under different weather conditions.

I cannot remember how many leisure circuits I have made of West Lake with a circumference of 15km (9 miles). Each time West Lake’s mesmerizing landscape would catch my heart and touch my soul with its unique wear, light on rainy or post-rain days, or rich on sunny days.

Of course, the reason why West Lake has been listed as World Cultural Heritage is not just its picturesque landscape. it is also related to numerous scholars, national heroes, revolutionary martyrs and folklores. In addition, West Lake is teeming with ancient buildings, engraved tablets in surrounding areas, which are part of Chinese culture.

West Lake also boasts plentiful plant resources. All year round, various kinds of flowers and plants in West Lake and on surrounding mountains compete for the beauty of West Lake, adding much to the landscape of plantation around the lake and also greatly improves Hangzhou’s environment.

All the gardens around West Lake is free to all. These gardens have influenced garden design in the rest of China as well as Japan and Korea in the past centuries, showcasing the ideal blend between humans and nature.

Today, early in the morning I have a 1/3 circular walk along the lake from West Lake’s Lakeside Park 1, to Bai Di Causeway and end by Inner West Lake, a one and half hours’ ambling. Again today the West Lake’s wear after rain surpasses my expectation. I lose no time recording the momentary prettification of West Lake.

Bai Di Causeway, paddle boats and the city. The West Lake under the Sun peeping through the clouds.