"Above there is heaven; below, Suzhou and Hangzhou."
For a thousand years this proverb has made Hangzhou China's byword for earthly paradise. Capital of the Southern Song dynasty from 1132 to 1276 and the southern terminus of the Grand Canal, the city so dazzled Marco Polo that he described it as greater than any other in the world. Today it is a metropolis of some twelve million and the home of Alibaba — yet step onto the willow-fringed shore of West Lake and the skyline dissolves into the same misty scroll-painting that captivated Song poets. Hangzhou is built for slow, story-rich wandering, and the easiest way to unlock it is with a self-guided audio tour: press play at each landmark and hear the emperors, monks and legends behind the view.
A lake made of legend
West Lake, inscribed by UNESCO in 2011, is less a body of water than an open-air anthology. Stroll the Su Causeway, laid out under the poet-governor Su Dongpo, cross the Broken Bridge where the Legend of the White Snake begins, and take a boat out to Three Pools Mirroring the Moon, the island whose stone pagodas are lit on full-moon nights. On the southern shore rises Leifeng Pagoda, first raised in 977 and rebuilt in 2000 — each stop has an audio guide that turns scenery into story.
Temples, tea and the peak that flew here
West of the lake, Lingyin Temple — the "Temple of the Soul's Retreat", founded in 326 AD — remains one of China's oldest and most revered Buddhist monasteries. Beside it, the limestone cliffs of Feilai Feng hold hundreds of Buddhist figures carved from the 10th century onward, among the finest grotto art in southern China. Further into the hills, the terraces of Longjing produce China's most celebrated green tea; come in spring to watch the harvest, teacup in one hand, audio guide in the other.
Beyond the lake
Hangzhou rewards those who roam further: the canal-laced trails of Xixi National Wetland Park, the snack stalls and old apothecaries of Hefang Street, the Six Harmonies Pagoda watching over the Qiantang River, and the solemn Yue Fei Temple, shrine to the Song dynasty's patriot general. Visit in spring or autumn, order West Lake fish in sweet-and-sour sauce and Dongpo pork, and let the stories carry you around the city that heaven is said to envy.