Hangzhou: A Glimpse of the Old China

Nowhere in China is there a greater sense of cultural continuity than in the ancient city of Hangzhou. Lying at the southern end of the 1,100-mile-long Grand Canal, it was also a terminus of the Silk Road, which once linked classical China with the Mediterranean. The old city is centered on the four square miles of West Lake, a tranquil, willow-fringed expanse surrounded by forested hills.

Mao himself used to vacation in a lakeside villa, which explains why, during the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards were packed off to wreak their havoc elsewhere. Today, the skyline is still punctuated by pagodas, the most beautiful of which, Liuhe Ta, overlooks the pearl farms of the Qiantang River and dates from the middle of the 10th century.

The new Four Seasons Hangzhou at West Lake (a 2012 Grand Award winner) comprises just 78 rooms. It is an unexpectedly intimate resort, with a traditional exterior topped by pagoda roofs. Surrounded by water gardens, it seems quite understated at first glance. But step inside, and you are confronted by a dazzling interior that combines both Chinese and Western elements in a tour de force of contemporary design. The accommodations are appropriately restful; the public areas, however, are intended to amaze, and no expense seems to have been spared to create an overwhelming impression.

A complete contrast is provided by Amanfayun (also a 2012 Grand Award winner), which is situated in a wooded valley about 20 minutes from the center of town. The approach is along minor roads lined with bamboos and bordered by tea plantations. The layout of the resort is remarkable. Comprising a small village, with many of the structures dating to the early 1800s, it is linked by the wide Fayun Pathway, which extends for a little more than a third of a mile and leads to Lingyin Si, one of China’s most important Buddhist temples, founded in A.D. 326.

The path is still in daily use by the monks, as well as by local people, so rather than being a hermetically sealed luxury resort, Amanfayun is organically connected to the life of a thriving religious community, as well as to the surrounding countryside. Visitors to Hangzhou feel themselves being reabsorbed into a timeless China. The Cultural Revolution destroyed much, but it did not destroy everything.