Before we set out
Why Hangzhou stays with you
A short introduction to the ideas that connect the places we will see. Tap each chapter to read more.
A landscape of poetry+−
West Lake has inspired poets, scholars, and artists for centuries. Its causeways, islands, pagodas, gardens, and distant hills were composed to feel like a painting one can enter.
A city shaped by history+−
A county was established here in 222 BCE, and the name Hangzhou first appeared in 589 CE. The city later flourished as the capital of the Wuyue Kingdom and, from 1138, the Southern Song dynasty.
Living traditions+−
Tea, silk, medicine, calligraphy, and seal art are not simply museum subjects here. They remain part of Hangzhou’s daily rhythm and give our three days their cultural thread.
