The famous West Lake is like a brilliant pearl embedded in the beautiful and fertile shores of the East China Sea near the mouth of the Hangzhou Bay. The lake covers an area of 5.6 square kilometers. The view of the West Lake is simply enchanting, which offers many attractions for tourists at home and abroad.

Tiger-running Spring
The legend goes that two tights ran there and made a hole where a spring gushed out. The Longjing Tea and the Tiger-running Spring water are always reputed as the "Two Wonders of the West Lake".

The Lingyin Monastery
The Lingyin Monastery, or the Monastery of Soul's Retreat, is a famous historical site of the West Lake. Here exists the Lingyin Monastery, a famous ancient temple in China, in front of which there are Feilai Peak, Cold Spring, Longhong Cave and precious rock cave arts and queer and varied natural caves and gullies.

Spring Dawn at Su Causeway
It's a 2.8 km. long boulevard cutting across the south-north scenic area, and lined with trees and flowering plants. When Spring comes with crimson peach blossoms and green willows; the scenery is all the more charming. Strolling along the boulevard, one feels as if the West Lake were wakening in dawn mist. Young willows were ethereal, spring breeze so caressing, and birds were chirping in unison.

The Moon Reflected in Three Pools
"There are islands in the lake and three are lake on the islands." The three stone towers were first built in Yuanyou 4th year (1089) of the Song Dynasty, with the wonderful scenery of "one moon in the sky having three reflection in the lake", it is one of the wonderful scenes of the West Lake.

Notes:

1. West Lake 西湖
2. Tiger-running Spring 虎跑泉
3. The Lingyin Monastery 灵隐寺
4. Spring Dawn at Su Causeway 苏堤春晓
5. The Moon Reflected in Three Pools 三潭印月

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　　West Lake is a freshwater lake located in the historic area of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province in eastern China. The lake is divided by the causeways of Sū D，Bái Dī，and Yánggōng Dī There are numerous temples, pagodas, gardens, and artificial islands within the lake.

West Lake has influenced poets and painters throughout the ages for its natural beauty and historical relics, and it has been among the most important sources of inspiration for Chinese garden designers, as evidenced by the impact it had on various Chinese classical gardens.It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011, and was described as having "influenced garden design in the rest of China as well as Japan and Korea over the centuries" and as reflecting "an idealized fusion between humans and nature

There are dozens of lakes called West Lake worldwide, but "West Lake" usually refers to the Hangzhou West Lake, which is located in the western area of Hangzhou City. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides. The average depth of West Lake is 3 meters, and the capacity is about 14,290,000 cubic meters. The lake is divided by Gu Shan, Bai, Su and Yanggong Causeways into five areas. Ordered by their areas, they are Outer West Lake (外西湖), West Inner Lake (西里湖, or 后西湖, or 后湖), North Inner Lake (北里湖 or 里西湖), Little South Lake (小南湖 or 南湖) and Yue Lake (岳湖). "Outer West Lake" is the largest. "Gu Shan" or Gu Hill is the largest natural island in the lake. Su & Bai Causeways run across the lake. Three small man-made islands, "Xiao Ying Zhou" (小瀛洲), "Hu Xin Ting" (湖心亭), and "Ruan Gong Dun" (阮公墩) lie in the center of Outer West Lake. Thus, the basic layout is "one hill, two causeways, three islands, and five lakes"

West Lake is not only famous for its picturesque landscape, it is also associated with many scholars, national heroes and revolutionary martyrs, thus embracing many aspects of Chinese culture. In addition, many ancient buildings, stone caves and engraved tablets in surrounding areas are among the most cherished national treasures of China, with significant artistic value.

History
The earliest name for West Lake was "Wulin Water" (武林水). In the Book of Han, the "Geography Column" section says, "Qiantang, affiliated to west governor general. Wulin mountain is the origin of Wulin water. Runs east into the sea, covering 830 Chinese miles." Its former names include "Qian Water", "Qiantang Lake", "Mingsheng Lake", "Jinniu Lake", "Shihan Lake", "Shang Lake", "Lianyan Lake", "Fangsheng Pond", "Xizi Lake", "Gaoshi Lake", "Xiling Lake", "Meiren Lake", "Xianzhe Lake", "Mingyue Lake", and etc. But only two names were widely accepted in history and recorded in historical documents. One is "Qiantang Lake", due to the fact that Hangzhou was called "Qiantang" in ancient times. The other name is "West Lake", due to the lake being west of the city. The name "West Lake" first appeared in two poems of Bai Juyi, "Bestowed on guests as returning from West Lake in the evening and looking back to Gushan Temple" (西湖晚归回望孤山寺赠诸客) and "On the returning boat to Hangzhou" (杭州回舫). Since North Song Dynasty, most poems and articles of scholars used the name "West Lake", while the name "Qiantang Lake" was gradually deprecated. "The request of dredging West Lake" written by Su Shi was the first time that "West Lake" appeared in an official document.

Qin Dynasty
Over 2,000 years ago, West Lake was still a part of Qiantang River. Due to soil sedimentation, the feet of the surrounding mountains on north and south sides of the lake, Wu Mountain and Baoshi Mountain gradually stretched to form shoal heads. Later these sand spits slowly merged to into a sandbank, to which a lagoon emerged to the west: this was the old West Lake, of the Qin and Han dynastic eras. "West Lake Dream Searching" (西湖梦寻) written by Zhang Dai (张岱) recorded, "Big Stone Buddhist Temple. According to ancient history, Qin Shi Huang traveled east into the sea, and moored the boat to this stone." The Big Stone Buddhist Temple referred to was located at Baoshi Mountain, north of the West Lake. These days the "Qin Shi Huang mooring stone" can still be seen.

Sui Dynasty
The short lived Sui Dynasty was known for its great engineering works which it accomplished during its brief existence. After Daye 6th year (610), Sui Dynasty, the Jiangnan Canal was opened and connected to the North Canal. Thus, five major rivers of China, namely the Hai River, Yellow River, Huai River, Yangtze River, and Qiantang River all were connected: this facilitated transportation to and from Hangzhou and thus boosted both its own and general economic development. Tourism in Hangzhou also started to boom.

Tang Dynasty
In the Tang Dynasty, West Lake had an area of roughly 10.8 square kilometers. The western and southern parts of the lake all extended to the foot of West Hill. The northeastern part stretched to Wulin Gate area. Pilgrims could take the boat to the hill-foot and walk up to the hill to worship. Because there was virtually no hydraulic project in those days, the lake flooded after heavy rains, and dried up during long droughts.