Sofitel Xanadu Resort Hangzhou

Spring in Hangzhou

by maria_hz

In China, the best times to travel are what the Chinese refer to as the Golden Season; Spring and Autumn. During this time, the Chinese have holidays (Labour Day week in early May, National Day week in early October) and now you know why. The Winter can be bitterly cold in many parts of China, and the summer painfully hot.

While the weather is good, go out and enjoy the greenery in the parks! Spring in Hangzhou is really fantastic when the weather gets warmer and the sun entices the plants and trees to blossom. The national park area and parks around the West Lake wakes up and dresses up to the nines. Recently, I was privileged enough to have a lot of free time to spend in the parks around the lake and record the progress of Spring.

The Spring is cool and sunny, and there are a lot of blossom everywhere!

The Island of Small Seas

by Paul2001

The Island of Small Seas is probably the romantic and therefore most visited of the islands on the West Lake. The island was formed in 1607 by silt-dredging on the lake. It gets its name from the four small ponds that have developed on the island itself. The island is almost completely circular. It is divided by two causeways that crisscross each other, forming the four lotus filled "seas". This as a very soothing effect on those who visit the island as you seem to be surrounded on all sides by water. I think that it would be even more romantic but for the fact that the island is saturated with tourists. I surprised that the island has not sank into the West Lake from the weight of the tourists. The island has several pavilions including the beautifully carved Flower and Bird Pavilion which is located where the causeways meet.

Hangzhou

by uttiya

"A Paradise Tucked Away"

The Honeymoon City of China, Hangzhou is on the southeastern coastline of China, bounded to the northwest and southwest by lush hills and to the northeast and southeast by the fabulous Zhebei Plain

Hangzhou is full of natural beauty and a wealth of cultural relics. With its stress on tourism, it has still not lost the charm and beauty of a traveler's haven and remains a very non-touristy spot.