Overview
Farmers dug the ponds over a thousand years for fish, mulberry and reeds, leaving a maze of water and narrow banks. About a third of the park is open to visitors, reached by electric boat along the channels. Egrets and herons breed here, and the persimmon trees turn in late autumn.
Highlights
Take the boat — walking alone gives you paths without the water perspective, which is the whole point of the place. The Hangzhou Xixi Wetland Museum explains how the pond-and-bank system worked. Spring for the plum blossom, late autumn for the persimmons and reeds; midsummer is hot and thick with insects.