eastern jin dynasty philosopher ge hong practiced taoism in the ge mountain, and wrote his great philosophical work: bao pu zhi (抱朴子);

　　tang dynasty poet luo binwang reclused in lingyin temple .tang dynasty poet-governor bai juyi built the first causeway, which the bai causeway. ;

　　song dynasty poet-governor su dongpo, dredged the lake and built up the su causeway, made it into another beautiful landmark of west lake. he also invented a special recipe for preparing pork: the dongpo pork. dongpo pork is on the menu of every restaurant in hangzhou .song dynasty national hero yue fei was buried near the west lake.

　　lotus in the breeze at the winding courtyardthe great ming dynasty essayist zhang dai, wrote a number great essays about the west lake in reminiscence and dream of tao'an (陶庵梦忆), and a whole book: search for west lake in dreams (西湖梦寻). the west lake has been famous for its exquisite beauty for more than one thousand years. hangzhou will be the site for the 2006 world leisure expo.

　　scenery

　　centering around the west lake, the scenic area is a national scenic area with a total cover of 59 square kilometers. there are over 60 chinese national, provincial and municipal cultural relic protection sites and over 100 scenic areas. the main attractions include: ten scenes of the west lake, ten new scenes of the west lake; lingyin temple, tiger-running spring and so on.

　　the lingyin monastery(灵隐寺)

　　the lingyin monastery, or the monastery of soul's retreat, is a famous historical site of the west lake. here exists the lingyin monastery, a famous ancient temple in china, in front of which there are feilai peak, cold spring, longhong cave and precious rock cave arts and queer and varied natural caves and gullies.

　　tiger-running spring(虎跑泉)

　　the legend goes that two tights ran there and made a hole where a spring gushed out. the longjing tea and the tiger-running spring water are always reputed as the "two wonders of the west lake".

　　the lake is divided into 3 parts by the causeways of sū dī (苏堤), bái dī (白堤). scenic and poetic ,both of them are ideal stretcher to walk on west lake . there are numerous temples, pagodas, gardens, and artificial islands within the lake.with ripples on the water’s surface and thickly-wooded hills dotted by exquisite pavilions on its four sides, the west lake is one of china’s best known scenic spots.

　　a collection of ten scenic views formed during the southern song dynasty, they are distributed around and within the lake, and serve to show the charms of the west lake. each scene is unique, and when taken together, are said to present the essence of west lake scenery, and form the core of any west lake tour. visitors to the lake can plan to spend their time viewing the "ten scenes of the west lake".

　　1、the first one is spring dawn at su causeway (苏堤春晓).

　　it is a thin strip of land nearly three kilometers long covered with peach and weeping willow trees. in spring, with the lakeside and dew sparkling(闪闪发光的) in the morning , birds cheerfully chirping among swaying willow branches, the scent of peach blossoms wafting through the air, you'll question whether you're in the midst of paradise.

　　2、the second one is breeze-ruffled lotus at quyuan garden(曲院风荷)

　　this typical west lake scene has earned its fame since the southern song dynasty, when the lakeside area with an abundant growth of lotus(荷花) off its shores was known as crooked courtyard, and was the location of a brewery(啤酒厂).people said the smell of lotus flowers and wine blended by the cool lake breezes was intoxicating(醉人的).there are plenty of lotus plants still bloom off its shores.they stand gracefully erect in the lake, as if they knew they had visitors coming to admire their beauty.

　　3、the third one is autumn moon over the calm lake(平湖秋月)

　　at the western end of bai causeway is located a lakeside park which houses a stone tablet bearing the etched(凿刻) calligraphy of emperor kangxi of the qing dynasty, which reads: "autumn moon on calm lake".the lake is a special place to appreciate the moon and the effect of moonlight on the land.the moon seems especially bright over the waters.the hills look purplish bathed in the moonlight.the best time for nighttime viewing is on mid-autumn day.

　　4、the fourth one is melting snow on the broken bridge.(断桥残雪 )

　　it is most romantic scene of the ten must-see. the stone-arched broken bridge is where the characters of a famous chinese folktale, xu xian and a beautiful girl baisuzhen, who is actually a white snake and named, first met and fell in love with each other.

　　after a snowfall, when the snow on the more exposed side has melted(融化), with the shaded(遮蔽住、阴影) side remaining white, it looks as if a long white belt has been ripped apart on the bridge, thus earning the name "melting snow on the broken bridge".

　　5、the fifth one is viewing fish at flower pond(花港观鱼).