The Mingtown Hangzhou International Youth Hostel had a very convenient location at the West Lake area, I stepped out of the hostel and onto the main road to access the numerous parks that border the lake. The West Lake is probably the most famous lake in the whole of China. So famous it is that I know a number of Chinese restaurants were named after the lake. Exploring the lake will take some time as it is actually quite large. Fortunately, the lazy can take the tourist bus that zip visitors around the West Lake area. I, being in the relaxing mood, decided to take it slowly, preferring to walk.
The West Lake actually didn’t used to be a lake as recently as two thousand years ago. It used to be part of the nearby Qiantang River which happens to be famous for having the world largest tidal bore. Over the years accumulation of sediment has turned it into what we now know as the West Lake. It was quite interesting to know that all of this happened within human history and everything was all documented. The fact that this is all documented also means that there was a lot of activity around the lake at that time. It is time I find out what.
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