New Ten Scenes of West Lake: Tea Villages, Springs and Hills

How they were chosen

In 1984 five bodies — the Hangzhou Daily, the city's parks and heritage bureau, Zhejiang Television, the city tourism company and a garden magazine — asked the public to name a new set of ten. The selection took more than eight months, over 50,000 people took part, and the result was announced on 22 September 1985. The new ten were well received, but they never became as famous as the classic Ten Scenes.

Several of the new names were not new at all: the bamboo path at Yunqi and the view from Wu Hill were among the eighteen scenes of the Qing dynasty. What changed was the reach. The classic scenes stay within sight of the water; the 1985 list takes in the tea country and the hills that frame the lake on three sides.

The ten scenes of 1985

1. Bamboo-lined Path at Yunqi (云栖竹径)

At the foot of Wuyun Hill, south-west of the lake, a winding path climbs through tall bamboo past a string of small pavilions. Yunqi means "where clouds roost", from a legend of coloured clouds gathering here; in the Qing dynasty the same path was already one of eighteen scenes of West Lake. Dove trees, red spider lilies, maples and wintersweet give it colour in every season.

2. Sweet Osmanthus Rain at Manjuelong (满陇桂雨)

Manjuelong is a village in the valley between the South Peak and Baihe Peak, named after a temple founded in 939 and renamed Manjue, "perfect enlightenment", in 1065. Since the Ming dynasty its villagers have grown osmanthus, and more than 7,000 trees fill the valley; when they flower around the Mid-Autumn Festival the tiny blossoms drift down like rain. Osmanthus became Hangzhou's city flower in the 1980s, and an osmanthus festival is held each September and October.

3. Dreaming of the Tiger Spring (虎跑梦泉)

Hupao, "the running tiger", is a spring in the hills south of the lake. Longjing tea brewed with Hupao water has long been held to be the best pairing in Hangzhou — which is why this scene and the next are usually visited together.

4. Inquiring about Tea at Dragon Well (龙井问茶)

Longjing, "dragon well", is a village of tea terraces inside the West Lake scenic area — 2.18 km² with about 600 residents — and one of the main growing areas of the green tea that carries its name. It is named after an old well. Tea is recorded around Hangzhou from the Tang dynasty; the tea of the Longjing hills became famous from the Yuan dynasty on, and an emperor's poems about its tea fields in 1751 began its modern fame.

5. Nine Creeks in a Misty Forest (九溪烟树)

Better known as the Nine Creeks and Eighteen Gullies, this is a valley walk of about 7 km from Longjing village south to Jiuxi village, between wooded hills and tea gardens, where the streams of nine side valleys gather into one brook. It is a favourite route for long walks; Zhejiang University's students often choose it for their annual hike.

6. Heavenly Wind over Wu Hill (吴山天风)

Wu Hill is the last spur of the southern hills, reaching into the old city: a ridge of a dozen low tops, the highest being Ziyang Hill at 98 m. Its temples include the City God Temple, first built in the Wuyue period, which gives the hill its everyday name, Chenghuang Hill. Wushan Square and Hefang Street lie at its northern foot. In the Qing dynasty the wide view from here over river, lake and city was already one of the eighteen scenes.

7. Ruangong Islet Submerged in Greenery (阮墩环碧)

The smallest of the three islets in the lake was heaped up around 1800 from silt dredged out of the lake and named after the provincial governor who raised the money for the work. Its soil was too soft to build on, so it stayed a refuge for birds until 1981, when light bamboo buildings and night tours were added. Since West Lake became a World Heritage Site in 2011 the islet has been closed to visitors as a nature reserve.

8. Yellow Dragon Cave Dressed in Green (黄龙吐翠)

Yellow Dragon Cave, at the northern foot of Qixia Hill north of the lake, is one of Hangzhou's best-known Taoist sites, with the City God Temple on Wu Hill and the Fuxing Temple on Jade Emperor Hill. It is one of the few ticketed spots in a scenic area that is otherwise free to walk.

9. Clouds Scurrying over Jade Emperor Hill (玉皇飞云)

Jade Emperor Hill (239 m) rises between West Lake and the Qiantang River. It takes its name from the Fuxing Temple to the Jade Emperor, founded in the Ming dynasty; from the Dengyun Pavilion on the top, clouds driven by the wind seem to fly past within reach. The Zilai Cave and the Eight Trigrams Field are on the same hill.

10. Precious Stone Hill Floating in Rosy Clouds (宝石流霞)

Baoshi, "precious stone", Hill rises behind the north shore. Its rhyolite and tuff contain iron oxide, so the rock glows red at sunrise and sunset — the rosy clouds of the name. The slender Baochu Pagoda on its top, first built in 963, faces Leifeng Pagoda across the lake, and the hill is one of the best viewpoints over West Lake.

The third list, 2007

A third vote ran for nine months in 2007 and drew more than 338,000 participants. Its ten were announced on 27 October 2007 at the opening of the ninth West Lake Expo. This time the list leans towards temples, memorials and historic streets.

Lingyin Temple and Six Harmonies Pagoda are described on the temples and pagodas page; Beishan Street is lined with the listed lakeside villas.

Combining them on foot

The new ten fall into natural pairs. Longjing and the Nine Creeks make one walk, south from the tea village down the valley; Hupao and Manjuelong lie in the hills south of the lake, and Manjuelong is at its best when the osmanthus flowers in September and October. Wu Hill rises straight out of the old city at the end of Hefang Street, near the Southern Song Imperial Street. Baoshi Hill is climbed from Beishan Road on the north shore.

A few of the city's declared historic buildings stand in this landscape: Buildings at 190, and 191, Dragonwell Scenic Area and Jiang's Residence at Dragonwell Scenic Area in the Longjing tea country, and the Xiaoputuo building by Wu Hill near the top of Wu Hill.