For centuries, West Lake served as the template for elegant landscaping around a prominent natural feature. Parks across Asia emulate the West Lake style and this was one of the factors that led Unesco to grant it World Heritage Site status last month.
The lake covers a large area in the southwest of Hangzhou and you can easily spend a few days walking around and boating across it, and come across something new each day.
Or very old. West Lake has been a scholar's retreat, a poet's inspiration and an emperor's playground for more than a thousand years - much of their contributions over time are part of the Ten Scenic Spots along the lake.
The Su Causeway is one of them, built in the early 12th century by poet-governor Su Dongpo, who used the mud dredged up from the perpetually silting lake to build an earthen bridge across the west side of the lake. The causeway is lined with willow trees and peach trees, inspiration for one of the top 10 West Lake experiences, Dawn on the Su Causeway in Spring.
Another of the must-sees, according to the Qing emperor, is Leifeng Pagoda in the Sunset, which is inspired by the ancient Buddhist pagoda on the south side of the lake. The top 10 are often based on seasons or specific events, such as Orioles singing in the Willows, which could require multiple visits.
As you would expect from poet-governors, such as Su and Bai Juyi, the beauties of West Lake are immortalised in poetry not just imperial decree. Bai's line, 'Search osmanthus around the temple on hill in the middle of autumn', refers to the lake's constantly blooming flowers - peach in the spring, lotus in summer, the city flower, the osmanthus in autumn and plum blossoms in the winter.