Xixi National Wetland Park

The First National Wetland Park In China; National 5A Tourist Attraction · Hangzhou, Zhejiang

A maze of ponds, reed beds, persimmon groves and willow-lined channels on the western edge of Hangzhou, and the first national wetland park established in China. Xixi was farmland and fish ponds for centuries, a place where city scholars kept retreats and villagers raised silkworms and grew persimmons, and the landscape that survives is a patchwork of water and low islands threaded by narrow waterways. Electric boats slip along the channels beneath overhanging branches, past old houses, tea plantations and lock gates, which is the best way to see the park; walkways and bridges link the islands for those who prefer to wander. In late autumn the persimmon trees hang with orange fruit and the reeds turn silver; in spring plum blossom fills the Plum Villa area, and dragon boats race on the water at the Dragon Boat Festival. The park also preserves village halls and a temple, and its quieter western sections are managed as a nature reserve where herons and egrets nest. It lies close to the West Lake, and the two make a natural pairing.

Xixi National Wetland Park, Xihu District, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

Daily, about 7:30-18:30 from April to early October and 8:00-18:00 through the winter (check); boats run in daylight and stop in storms.

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