West Lake (Figure 1) is like a brilliant pearl embedded in the beautiful and fertile shores of the East China Sea near the mouth of the Hangzhou Bay. Over the centuries, the beauty and culture of West Lake has attracted numerous literati, who left behind works of literature and poetry to describe the lake. For example, Dream in West Lake and The Enchiridion of Lake and Mountain recorded a lot about West Lake and ancient Hangzhou historic anecdotes. Nowadays, West Lake still offers many attractions for tourists at home and abroad.

Located at the north-west of the West Lake at Hangzhou, Lingyin Temple (Figure 2) is one of the oldest and ancient Buddhist temples in China. It contains numerous pagodas and Budddhist grottoes. As one of the largest temples in Wulin Mountain in Hangzhou, Lingyin Temple attracts thousands of visitors and Buddhist because of its long history and charming scenery.

Su Causeway (Figure 3) is the longest series of bridges crossing over Hangzhou's West Lake. In Northern Song Dynasty (1090), the famous poet Su Dongpo was then the governor of Hangzhou, he built the causeway to connect the West Lake. In memory of this famous poet, this causeway was later named after him as the "Su Causeway". It consists of six simple yet beautiful bridges and the embankments along the way are all landscaped with trees and flowers.

As one of top ten attractions at West Lake, Viewing Fish at Flower Harbor (Figure 4) features the flower harbor plus red carps, peony flowers, a big lawn and dense woods. The history of Viewing Fish at Flower Harbor can be dated to the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). Back then, the government official Lu Yunsheng built a private garden at the foot of Flower Hill (Huajia Hill). He dug a pond, and raised various fish in it. The garden was first called Lu Garden, and then became known as Flower Harbor. Later, Ma Yuan, a great painter of the Southern Song Dynasty, depicted the scene when he created the Ten Paintings of West Lake. From then on, the beautiful scene has been known as "Viewing Fish at Flower Harbor".

Leifeng Pagoda (Figure 5) (雷峰塔, Léi Fēng Tǎ) is a five-story tower with eight sides, located on Sunset Hill south of the West Lake. It was originally constructed in the year AD 975. Leifeng Pagoda was one of the ten sights of the West Lake because of the Legend of the White Snake, which was a romantic love story in ancient times between Xu Xian and the "White Lady" or "White Maiden" (白娘子, Bái Niángzǐ), they fell in love with each other to break though the laws of nature.