Xixi Wetlands

Xixi was, until the early 2000s, a quiet patchwork of waterways, persimmon groves, and fisher villages on the western edge of Hangzhou. In 2003 the city government designated it as a national wetland park and undertook a substantial restoration: introduced housing was removed, the waterway network was deepened and connected, and the persimmon trees and reed beds were preserved or replanted.

The result is the only national-class urban wetland in mainland China, accessible from the city centre in 30 minutes but feeling considerably more rural than its location suggests. The interior is navigated primarily by hand-poled small boat — covered four-person punts that move along narrow channels through reed and persimmon — or by elevated boardwalks for those preferring to walk.

Autumn is the showcase season. The persimmon trees turn deep orange and the reeds head out into pale flag-flowers; the "Hidden in the Reeds" landscape is one of the canonical seasonal photographs of Hangzhou. Spring is also worth the visit, when the waterways flood and the bamboo groves come alive.

The park's interior buildings — Qiu Xue Cottage, Gao Manor — were the country residences of late-Ming and early-Qing scholars who chose Xixi for its quiet remove from the city. The restored buildings include modest museums of Hangzhou rural life.