Hangzhou West Lake Spring Peach Blossom Viewing Guide, Limited-Time Romance in Spring

In April, West Lake looks like a spilled palette of spring colors. When climbing Broken Bridge before the morning mist disperses, a gauze-like fog floats on the lake surface, and peach groves wind along North Mountain Street like pink ribbons. Rent a rowboat to venture into the hidden realm of West Inner Lake, where the ripples created by the boatwoman's oar startle white egrets. Wild peach blossoms along the shore are stirred by the wind into a rustling shower of petals, falling into celadon teacups where you can hardly distinguish between flower petals and Longjing tea leaves. In the afternoon, head to Orioles Singing in the Willows, where peach blossoms and weeping willows form a perfect pairing. The new willows have just sprouted tender yellow-green buds, creating a striking color contrast with the rouge-red peach blossoms. Consider wearing moon-white Hanfu to take photos on the arched bridge in front of Orioles Pavilion, letting the silhouette of upturned eaves frame the cascading layers of flowers behind you. Highly recommended are the waterside peach branches near Jixian Pavilion, where low-hanging flower branches almost touch the water surface, with red carp swimming through the reflection, resembling the freehand brushstrokes of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" painting. The Su Causeway at 7am daily is photographers' hidden treasure moment, when six arched bridges awaken in the morning light and peach blossoms weave a pink corridor along the 2.8 km long embankment. Standing at Yazhi Bridge, you'll discover the "Crimson Peach Ancestor" planted in the Ming Dynasty with its twisted branches adorned with deep red double petals like clusters of agates. The stone tablet below bears Su Shi's poem line "Wishing to compare West Lake to Xi Zi (the famous beauty)," and only then will you understand the ancients' obsession with capturing spring in poetry. At noon, replenish your energy at Flower Harbor Fish Viewing. The scenic area's "Zhiwei Restaurant" offers limited-edition peach blossom pastries, with flaky crusts hiding rose bean paste and whole preserved peach flesh. In the afternoon, cycle along Yanggong Causeway and turn into the rustic paths of Mao Family Port, where old peach trees coexist with moss-covered memorial arches. You might encounter tea farmers in bamboo cloth shirts carrying bamboo baskets through the flowers, as if you've stumbled into a parallel universe from "Peach Blossom Spring." 📍 Address: Su Causeway (inside Hangzhou West Lake Scenic Area, No. 1 Longjing Road, West Lake District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province) 💰 Admission: Free and open all day