West Lake Flower Viewing | Azaleas in Full Bloom at Gushan Park, April 17 in Hangzhou
Hangzhou is a place you must visit at least once in your lifetime. Make plans for this May Day holiday!
Heaven above, Suzhou and Hangzhou below! Hangzhou is the most beautiful place on earth! In spring, the West Lake scenic area offers a new view with every step, with vibrant flowers blooming everywhere - azaleas, jasmines, water lilies, peonies... They complement the emerald green West Lake, creating indescribable beauty. I specially went to Hangzhou's West Lake in mid-April to enjoy the flowers, and here's my fresh flower viewing guide 👇🏻
⛰【Hangzhou Flower Viewing Guide】Hangzhou West Lake | Gushan Park for Azaleas
📍Detailed address: No. 3 North Gushan Road, West Lake District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province
🚗Transportation: Take bus routes 13, 14, or West Lake Outer Ring Line to "Xiling Bridge Station," though taking a taxi is more recommended.
🕙Opening hours: All day
💰Ticket price: Free
🌟Highlights: Gushan (Solitary Hill) is the largest island in West Lake, situated between the inner and outer lakes, with many scenic spots. There are currently 30 attractions, and walking along the mountain paths gives you a forest-like feeling. In April, Gushan is surrounded by greenery, with azaleas covering the hillsides in various colors and layers, interspersed with pavilions and buildings, creating a poetic atmosphere.
📌Small Tips:
1️⃣If you love azaleas, head straight to Gushan Park, which has the most varieties and the most beautiful blooms!
2️⃣Enter through the main entrance of Gushan Park and follow the path along the West Lake shore to see layers of azaleas that look especially vibrant against the backdrop of the green lake water.
3️⃣The densest area of azaleas is at the Xiling Seal Society archway. Here, the azaleas are colorful - red, yellow, orange, as well as multi-colored and gradient varieties. This spot is perfect for taking portraits among the flowers.
4️⃣Walking along the small path to the left of the Xiling Seal Society, you'll see a large lawn and the central lake area of the park. Here, the azaleas set against small bridges, flowing water, and pavilions create a classical beauty perfect for ladies taking traditional costume photos! You can also climb the hill to view azaleas, where the hillside flowers offer a natural, wild charm.
5️⃣The entire Gushan Park along the West Lake shore has beautiful paths everywhere, perfect for stopping to take photos. With gentle breezes and blooming azaleas, it's extremely comfortable and pleasing to the eye.
6️⃣Just 300 meters from Gushan Park is the Hangzhou Museum (Gushan Branch), about a 4-minute walk. Inside the museum is the reconstructed Wentao Pavilion, a small garden-style courtyard that is exquisite and beautiful. The "Complete Library of the Four Treasuries" collected in Wentao Pavilion is worth seeing!
Gushan "Gushan Temple is north and Jiating is west. The water surface is flat and the clouds are low. Several early orioles compete for warm trees, and new swallows peck at spring mud. The flowers are gradually dazzling, and the shallow grass can cover the horse's hooves. I love the east of the lake, and I can't walk enough, and the white sand embankment under the shade of green willows." Why is it named "Gushan"? This is because the scenery of this mountain is particularly beautiful in history. It has always been called the lonely emperor, so it is called Gushan. Gushan, as its name suggests, is a lonely hill that has stood here for thousands of years; Gushan Temple and Jiating have disappeared, and we can only imagine what it used to look like in the beautiful Tang poems. Standing alone on Gushan, imagine that Master Hongyi, Li Shutong, traveled to Gushan a hundred years ago and left the poem "The West Lake is beautiful, and I don't envy the red pine fairy". Gushan is different from the West Lake separated by a river. There is no hustle and bustle of crowds here, nor is there a scene of roads being so crowded that you can't walk. There is only a row of stone lions standing outside the dilapidated temple gate, silently guarding this piece of pure land.
Family, don't miss Gushan when you come to Hangzhou! It is the largest natural island in West Lake. It is not large in area but has many cultural attractions. You can walk to history in a few steps. Walk from Baidi and you will soon reach Gushan. As soon as I got on the island, I was healed by the beautiful scenery of lakes and mountains. I could see the beautiful scenery of West Lake. You must go to Zhongshan Park. It was built on the ruins of the Qing Dynasty palace and you can feel the charm of the royal garden. Going further, you will find Gushan Pavilion of Zhejiang Museum, which displays the history and culture of Zhejiang and has exquisite cultural relics. For friends who like calligraphy and seal carving, don't miss Xiling Seal Society, which is simply a palace of art. There are cliff carvings and celebrity handwriting everywhere. I walked around for a long time and immersed in the artistic atmosphere. There is also the Fanghe Pavilion, which is related to the Northern Song Dynasty poet Lin Bu. His story of "plum wife and crane son" is very famous. Gushan is beautiful in all seasons. In spring, plum blossoms bloom and the fragrance is fragrant; in summer, the trees are shady and cool; in autumn, the maple leaves are like fire and full of poetry; in winter, the snow scene is quiet and like a fairyland. When you come to Hangzhou to play, put Gushan on your itinerary, stroll leisurely for half a day, and feel the fusion of history and nature. It is really pleasant!
Gushan is a small island in the West Lake. I took a cruise around the lake from Qianwang Temple Pier to Pinghu Qiuyue. I not only enjoyed the beautiful scenery on the lake, but also took pictures of the Broken Bridge from another angle. After getting on the island, Zhongshan Park is right opposite. The park was built on the ruins of the Qing Dynasty palace. You can see the eye-catching "Gushan" when you enter the park. On the right side of Zhongshan Park is the Zhejiang Provincial Museum (Gushan Pavilion), and on the left are Louwailu and Xiling Seal Society. The Gushan Pavilion of the Provincial Museum mainly displays the fine arts and crafts of Zhejiang. There is also a separate Huang Binhong Exhibition Hall, but it was not open that day, which was quite a pity. After entering the Xiling Seal Society, there is a different world, with scenery at every step and a strong humanistic atmosphere. There is also the famous "Three Old Monuments" in the society, but it is a pity that the iron gate has been locked and can only be watched from afar. There is the China Seal Museum in the back mountain. I didn't find it this time, and I will definitely go there next time.
Gushan is not lonely, moss flowers and osmanthus flowers complement each other~ By the West Lake. Next to Xiling Seal Society. Walking through Zhongshan Park, which was once the imperial garden of the Qing Dynasty, you can see a red character engraved on a stone wall in the distance: Gushan. Turn right, go up the steps, and look right again. It is the mountain road of the Qing Dynasty palace ruins. There is a not-so-old pavilion named "West Lake Tianxia Pavilion" after Su Shi's poem. However, our attention was attracted by the osmanthus flowers that had just burst into rice grains, as well as the entire gable, railings, corners, and old osmanthus trees, which were all densely covered with moss... When I first came here, I also wondered why I entered the main gate of Zhongshan Park, but the name of "Gushan" was not far away. It turns out that these two parks are adjacent to each other. Zhongshan Park is the center of Gushan. In 1927, the Imperial Garden Palace of the Qing Dynasty was renamed Zhongshan Park in memory of Mr. Sun Yat-sen. It was formerly the imperial garden of Kanggan Palace and is also one of the four major gardens in West Lake. Emperors Kangxi and Qianlong once built a temporary palace here. Although the "Eight Scenes of the Temporary Palace" of Emperor Qianlong have long been in name only, the ruins and broken stones protected by glass covers can still be used to imagine the approximate location of the building - so it does not prevent us from laughing and reciting the sentence "The lonely mountain is not lonely, but the lonely man is lonely"~
Gushan, located in the West Lake of Hangzhou, is connected to Xiling Bridge in the west and Baidi in the east. It is the largest island in the West Lake. Because the scenery of this mountain is particularly beautiful in history, it has always been occupied by emperors who claim to be lonely, so it is called Gushan. Gushan itself is a scenic spot. In addition, there are Lin Hejing's Tomb, Xiling Seal Society, Zhongshan Park, Zhejiang Museum, Pinghu Qiuyue in the east, Qiu Jin's Tomb and Su Xiaoxiao's Tomb in the west. Around the lake, there are also representative Hangzhou cuisine restaurants Louwailou and Zhiweiguan.