West Lake

Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller, who visited China about the year 1200, speaks of it, as "pre-eminent above all other cities in the world, in point of grandeur and beauty, as well as from its abundant delights, which might lead an inhabitant to imagine himself in paradise;" and in another place describing Si-wu or West Lake, an artificial sheet of water just without the city wall, he says: "All around the lake are beautiful palaces and houses, so wonderfully built that nothing can possibly surpass them; they belong to the great and noble men of the city. In the middle of the lake are two islands, on one of which stands a palace so wonderfully adorned that it seems worthy of belonging to the emperor."

1869, Helen S. C. Nevius, Our Life in China, New York: Robert Carter and Brothers, →OCLC, page 129

One of the few ancient relics of the original Monastery is to be found within, the Lo Han Pagoda, with its marvelous carvings of sixteen Lo Han. These sixteen Lo Han are one of the three great wonders or glories of Hangchow, the other two being the West Lake and the River Bore.

1922, Robert F. Fitch, “The Fifth Itinerary”, in Hangchow Itineraries, Kelly & Walsh, →OCLC, page 33

HANGCHOW, China, Feb. 26 (UPI)—President Nixon and Premier Chou En‐lai strolled through picturesque gardens of cameiias, pansies and magnolias today then went boating on West Lake, one of China's leading scenic attractions.

1972 February 27, “Nixon and Chou Stroll and Go Boating in Hangchow”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 Jul 2023, page 30

Hangchow cuisine can be summed up with the phrase "southern ingredients, northern style" (南菜北烹). This means that the varieties of fish, shrimp, and other crustaceans in Hangchow's much-celebrated historic West Lake are prepared in northern-style, sweet and sour-based flavors.

2001 September 28, Sen-lun Yu, “Restaurant of the week: Tien Hsiang Lo (天香樓)”, in Taipei Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 Feb 2012, Features, page 10