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Sights

Xiaoyíng Island Island

Offline map Google map (Xiaoyíng Zhōu) Wooden cruise boats shuttle visitors from a number of points to the Mid-Lake Pavilion Offline map Google map (Húxīn Tíng) and Xiaoyíng Island, which has a fine central pavilion and ‘nine-turn’ causeway. From the island you can look over at the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon Offline map Google map (Sāntán Yìnyuè), a string of three small towers in the water, each of which has five holes that release shafts of candlelight on the night of the Mooncake Festival in midautumn.

Hángzhōu

Top Sights

West LakeD3 Sights

Art Gallery (see 4) 1 Baochù Pagoda C1 2 Bàopu Taoist Temple C1 3 China Silk MuseumD6 4 Chinese Academy of Art E4 5 Huíchūn Táng F4 6 Húqìngyú Táng Chinese Medicine Museum F4 7 Jìngcí Zen Monastery C6 8 Léifēng Pagoda C6 9 Mid-Lake Pavilion C3 10 Ming-Dynasty Effigies C1 11 Qīnghéfáng Old Street E4 12 Qūyuàn Garden A3 13 Red Carp Pond B5 Seal Engravers' Society(see 28) 14 Small Boat HireE2 15 Sunrise Terrace B1 16 Taiziwan Park B6 17 Three Pools Mirroring the Moon C5 18 Xiaoyíng Island C4 19 Yuè Fēi Temple B2 20 Zhèjiāng Provincial MuseumC3 21 Zhōngshān ParkB3 22 Ziyún Cave B2 Eating

23 Dōngyīshùn F4 24 Grandma's Kitchen E3 25 Green Tea RestaurantE3 Jīn Shā (see 34) 26 La Pedrera B1 27 Lao Hángzhōu Fēngwèi E4 28 Lóuwàilóu B3 Drinking

29 Eudora Station E4 30 JZ Club E3 31 Maya Bar B1 Sports & Activities

32 Bicycle RentalD1 33 Bicycle RentalD4 Sleeping

34 Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou A3 35 In Lake Youth Hostel E4 36 Mingtown Youth Hostel D4 37 Tea Boutique Hotel B1 38 Wúshānyì International Youth Hostel F4 Transport

39 Boats to Xiaoyíng IslandE3 Yuè Fēi Temple Temple

Offline map Google map (Yuè Miào; Beishan Lu; admission ¥25; 7am-6pm) This temple is bounded by a red-brick wall and dedicated to General Yue Fei (1103–41), whose tomb is here. Commander of the Song armies, Yue was executed after being deceived by Qin Hui, a treacherous court official. More than 20 years later, Song emperor Gao Zong exonerated Yue and had his corpse reburied at the present site.

Xīxiálíng Hill

The West Lake area is littered with fine walks – just follow the views. For a splendid trek into the forested hills above the lake, however, walk up a lane called Xīxiálíng, immediately west of the Yuè Fēi Temple. The road initially runs past the temple’s west wall and enters the shade of towering trees, with stone steps leading you up. At Ziyún Cave Offline map Google map (Ziyún Dòng) the road forks; take the right-hand fork in the direction of the Bàopu Taoist Temple, 1km further, and the Baochù Pagoda.

At the top of the steps, turn left and, passing the Sunrise Terrace Offline map Google map (Chūyáng Tái), again bear left. Down the steps, look out for the tiled roofs and yellow walls of the striking Bàopu Taoist Temple Offline map Google map (Bàopu Dàoyuàn; admission ¥5; 6am-5pm) below you to your right; head right along a path to reach it.

Come out of the temple’s back entrance and turn left towards the Baochù Pagoda Offline map Google map (Baochù Ta) and, after hitting a confluence of three paths, take the middle track. Squeeze through a gap between some huge boulders (some of which can be climbed for lake views) and the Baochù Pagoda rises ahead. Restored many times, the seven-storey brick pagoda was last rebuilt in 1933, although its spire tumbled off in the 1990s.

Continue on down and pass through a páilou – or decorative arch – erected during the Republic (with some of its characters scratched off) to a series of stone-carved Ming-dynasty effigies Offline map Google map, all of which were vandalised in the tumultuous 1960s, save two effigies on the right. Residents in a couple of the old courtyard homes here sell cheap food to weary walkers. Bear right and head down to Beishan Lu, emerging from Baochutaqianshan Lu.

Língyin Temple Buddhist Temple

(Língyin Sì; Lingyin Lu; grounds ¥35, grounds & temple ¥65; 7am-5pm) This wonderful collection of buildings is Hángzhōu’s principal Buddhist temple. Built in 328, due to war and other calamities it has been destroyed and restored no fewer than 16 times.

The main temple buildings are restorations of Qing-dynasty structures. The Great Hall envelops a magnificent 20m-high statue of Siddhartha Gautama (the historical Buddha), sculpted from 24 blocks of camphor wood in 1956. Behind the giant statue is a startling montage of 150 small figures, which charts the journey of 53 children on the road to buddhahood.

The large grounds house other temples too and are also home to Fēilái Peak (Fēilái Fēng; Peak Flying from Afar) – magically transported here from India, according to myth – and a stunning series of 470 Buddhist carvings, dating from the 10th to 14th centuries. To get a close-up view of the best carvings, including the famous ‘laughing’ Maitreya Buddha, follow the paths along the far (east) side of the stream.

There are several other temples near Língyin Temple that can be explored, including Yongfú Temple and Tāoguāng Temple.

Behind the Língyin Temple is North Peak (Běi Gāofēng), which can be scaled via a cable car (suodào; up/down/ return ¥30/20/40) or on foot. From the summit are sweeping views across the lake and city.

To get to Língyin Temple, take bus K7 from Beishan Lu, or bus Y1 or Y2 from Nanshan Lu.

Zhèjiāng Provincial Museum Museum

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14