West Lake is located in the west of Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province. It is a famous scenic spot.

The Su Causeway and Bai Causeway divide the whole lake into five distinct sections - Outer Lake, Inner Lake, Yuehu Lake, West Inner Lake and Small South Lake. Three isles are in the lake and they are called "Three Pools Mirroring the Moon", "Pavilions in the middle of Lake" and "Ruan Yuan Isle". West Lake of Hangzhou enjoys the equal fame with Lac Leman in Geneva, Switzerland, both reputed to be pearls in the world, shining from the occident and orient and enchancing beauty of each other. Thanks to West Lake, Hangzhou has become the "most beautiful and luxurious city in the world", according to ancient Italian tourist Marco Polo.

The name of "West Lake" was first used in Tang Dynasty. In Song Dynasty, a famous poet called Su Dongpo wrote the following stanzas to glorify this beautiful lake, "Rippling water shimmering on sunny day, misty mountains shrouded the rain; Plain or gaily deched out like Xizi, West Lake is always alluring". In his poem, Su uniquely compared West Lake to Xizi, a legendary beautiful woman in ancient China, and hence the elegant name of "Xizi Lake".

The beauty of West Lake lies in its lingering charm that survives the change of seasons in a year, of hours in a day, and of different weather, no matter if it is cloudy, sunny, rainy, snow, or foggy.