Best Photography Spots in Hangzhou
Hangzhou photographs best early or late, when the lake crowds thin out and the light hits the water at an angle. Here’s where to point a camera, in the order a single day would naturally take you there.
The Su and Bai causeways, at sunrise
Both causeways are free, pedestrian-only, and at their best in the first hour or two after sunrise, before the day-trip crowds arrive. The willow-lined Su Causeway (1074) and the Bai Causeway (822, built roughly 250 years earlier by a different poet) both give long, low sightlines across the water toward the surrounding hills.
Three Pools Mirroring the Moon
The small island reached only by boat (~¥55-70) is the view printed on the back of the ¥1 note, small stone pagodas rising out of the water. It’s a short visit, but a distinctive one, and worth timing for softer late-afternoon light if the boat schedule allows it.
Leifeng Pagoda, from the top floor
Leifeng Pagoda (~¥40) is a 2002 reconstruction, not the 975 CE original, but the payoff is the view from its upper floors back across the lake and causeways, one of the few elevated vantage points on the lake itself.
Longjing and Meijiawu tea terraces
The terraced hillsides southwest of the lake are genuinely photogenic, rows of tea plants curving with the slope, especially in the soft light of early morning before the day’s tastings and tour groups arrive. The Mingqian picking season, early April, is when the terraces are most active with workers.
Feilai Feng’s rock carvings
Next to Lingyin Temple, Feilai Feng’s 300-plus carvings, including the well-known laughing Maitreya, sit among trees and rock faces that give texture most temple photography in the city lacks. Free entry now requires a timed reservation through Alipay or WeChat, booked 1-7 days ahead.
Hefang Street, after dark
Hefang (Qinghefang) Street’s lantern-lit shopfronts and century-old architecture are more atmospheric after sunset than during the day, when the crowds and the flat midday light work against it.
The Grand Canal at Gongchen Bridge
The Grand Canal, a separate UNESCO listing from West Lake (2014), is easiest to photograph from the Gongchen Bridge area, and a night cruise (~¥100) gives a different angle on the same stretch of water once the canal-side lights come on.
Read more: our full Hangzhou guide covers how to sequence a day around these spots, and the things to do guide has the ticket prices and hours for each one.