Wanghu Tower

Wanghu Tower

Wanghu Tower

Hangzhou’s Wanghu Tower, also known as Kanjing Tower or Xiandetower, is located on the west side of the Youth Palace Square, built alongside the lake. From its heights, visitors can take in the beautiful scenery of the entire lake. The renowned Song Dynasty poet Su Dongpo once wrote the much-loved poem “Drunken Writing at Wanghu Tower”: “Dark clouds like spilled ink yet fail to shroud the hills; / White raindrops leap like pearls into the boat. / Then sudden wind rolls them all away— / Beneath Wanghu Tower the water blends with the sky.” Thanks to this poem, Wanghu Tower has gained fame throughout the land.

The recently reconstructed Wanghu Tower covers a total area of over 360 square meters. The main pavilion, Wanghu Tower, is connected by a winding corridor to the auxiliary building, Canxiu Pavilion. The roof of Wanghu Tower is covered with blue tiles and features a double-eave hipped roof with a single layer painted red—a structure that is both grand and classically elegant. On the lower ground, lawns, palm trees, and wintergreens are planted, accented with rockery; while the higher ground is shaped into an artificial hill with rugged peaks surrounded by winding railings. Leaning on the railing and taking in the mountain forms, the clear blue waters, and the surrounding cliff inscriptions, one finds the scene truly lives up to the poetic description: “The sky and water glow with clean, green hues, and towers hang mirrored on the lake”—a truly iconic lakeside tower on West Lake.