Xixi National Wetland Park

The North Gate Entrance of Xixi National Wetland Park is located on Tianmu Mountain Road and is the main access point for visitors entering Xixi Wetland. A large visitor service center is set up at the entrance, providing comprehensive services including ticket sales, tour guide reservation, wheelchair borrowing, stroller rental, umbrella borrowing, and first-aid kits. Ticket windows support various payment methods including cash, card, and mobile payment; advance ticket purchase via the official WeChat account with QR code entry is also available. The north gate entrance plaza is spacious, with luggage storage lockers, vending machines, public toilets, and barrier-free facilities. After entering from the north gate, visitors first arrive at the Lotus Pond Leisure Area, and can follow the main walking trail to major attractions such as Qiuxue Nunnery, Shentankou, and Hezhu Street. The north gate is also the starting station for the park's battery-powered sightseeing carts, from which visitors can take a cart tour of about 1 hour. Multiple parking lots are available around the entrance, but spaces are tight during holidays; taking Metro Line 3 to Xixi Wetland South or North Station and then transferring to bus or walking is recommended.

Qiuxue Nunnery is located on an island in the central area of Xixi National Wetland Park, first built during the Song Dynasty, and is one of the oldest and most culturally profound attractions in Xixi Wetland. The nunnery is surrounded by water on all sides and can only be reached by wooden boat, with a quiet and secluded environment that feels like a hidden paradise. Every deep autumn (November), the reed marshes around the nunnery turn completely white, and when the breeze blows, the reed catkins fly like snow — hence the name "Qiuxue" (Autumn Snow) Nunnery. The main buildings in the nunnery include the Great Buddha Hall, Guanyin Hall, and Sutra Pavilion, with a simple and elegant architectural style that harmonizes with the natural wetland environment. The nunnery is also the best location for viewing the panorama of Xixi Wetland; ascending the building provides a view of thousands of acres of reed marshes, crisscrossing waterways, and quaint stone bridges. A wooden boardwalk and viewing platform are set up outside the nunnery for visitors to walk and enjoy close-up views of wetland plants and birds. Note: reaching Qiuxue Nunnery requires taking a rowing boat or battery boat within the park; boat tickets must be purchased separately.

Shentankou is the liveliest area within Xixi National Wetland Park and became famous after being featured in the movie "If You Are the One." Surrounded by water on all sides with ancient camphor trees providing shade, it is the area where the traditional water town character of Xixi is best preserved. Hezhu Street is the main pedestrian street at Shentankou, built along the river, with buildings in Ming and Qing style on both sides, now converted into various specialty shops including Xixi Wetland reed paintings, Xixi fish balls, "Dingsheng" cakes, sugar painting, and dough figurine making. The street also features free folk performances including Yue opera, shadow puppetry, and folk martial arts, staged daily on the ancient stage at scheduled times. Shentankou Pier is the largest cruise boat transfer station in Xixi Wetland, from which visitors can take boats to Qiuxue Nunnery, Zhoujia Village, and Qianjin Yang. During the Dragon Boat Festival, the Xixi Wetland Dragon Boat Racing is held at Shentankou, one of Hangzhou's most traditional festival events. Several waterside teahouses and restaurants are located around the block.

Xixi Plum Villa is located in the southeast of Xixi National Wetland Park and is a thematic scenic area centered on plum blossom viewing within the park. Xixi has enjoyed the reputation of "Xixi Plums" since ancient times, and together with Gushan plum blossoms and Lingfeng plum blossoms, is known as one of the three major plum blossom viewing destinations in Hangzhou. The Plum Villa area has more than 5,000 plum trees of dozens of varieties including Jiangmei, Gongfen, Zhusha, Lü'e, and Yudie, with the oldest trees being over a hundred years old. Every year during the plum blossom season (February-March), the entire Plum Villa resembles a natural ink painting, with pink-white, deep red, and light green blossoms adorning the branches, filling the air with fragrance, attracting numerous photography enthusiasts and citizens. The Plum Villa also preserves a group of Qing Dynasty-style ancient buildings, now the Plum Blossom Culture Exhibition Hall, which systematically introduces the historical origin, variety classification, and cultivation techniques of Xixi plum culture. Plum forest trails, plum viewing pavilions, and photography platforms are set up within the scenic area.

The Lianhuatan Bird Watching Area is located in the west of Xixi National Wetland Park and is the area with the most complete ecosystem protection and richest bird resources in Xixi Wetland. With dense vegetation, crisscrossing waterways, and interlaced shallow and deep water areas, it provides an ideal foraging, breeding, and habitat environment for various wetland birds. Three hidden bird watching huts are set up within the bird watching area, built with environmentally friendly wood, with exteriors simulating natural rocks and shrubs, and equipped with telescopes, bird field guides, and interpretation signs inside, allowing visitors to observe at close range without disturbing the birds. Over 190 bird species have been recorded in Xixi Wetland, including national first-class protected birds such as Oriental Stork, White-tailed Sea Eagle, and Hooded Crane, and national second-class protected birds such as Eurasian Spoonbill, Tundra Swan, and Mandarin Duck. Every winter (December-February) is the best season for bird watching, when flocks of overwintering migratory birds arrive at Xixi Wetland. Spring is the bird breeding season, when various bird courtship, nesting, and chick-rearing behaviors can be observed.

Xixi Thatched Cottage is located in the central part of Xixi National Wetland Park and is a reconstructed ancient building complex modeled after the original Xixi Thatched Cottage of Feng Mengzhen, a literatus of the Ming Dynasty. Feng Mengzhen was a famous writer and dramatist of the Ming Dynasty who lived in seclusion in Xixi, wrote books here, and left a large number of poems and essays describing the beauty of Xixi. The cottage complex includes a main hall, study, bedroom, kitchen, and garden, all constructed using traditional wooden structure craftsmanship, with thatched roof and wooden plank walls, simple and natural, blending perfectly with the wetland environment. The interior of the cottage recreates the furnishings of a Ming Dynasty literati's study, including a writing desk, the Four Treasures of the Study, a guqin, and ancient books. A teahouse is also set up in the cottage, where visitors can enjoy tea and experience the pleasure of "stealing half a day's leisure from a busy life." This is one of the scenic spots with the richest cultural connotations in Xixi Wetland. Every autumn, the cottage also hosts Xixi cultural lectures and ancient poetry recitation activities.

The Xixi Dragon Boat Exhibition Hall is located next to Hezhu Street in Xixi National Wetland Park and is a thematic museum with the theme of dragon boat culture. The Xixi Wetland Dragon Boat Race has a history of over a thousand years and is one of the most representative traditional festival activities in the Hangzhou area. The "Xixi Dragon Boat Racing" held annually during the Dragon Boat Festival has been included in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List. The exhibition hall systematically displays the historical origin of Xixi dragon boats, dragon boat making craftsmanship, dragon boat race rules, and the grand occasions of previous dragon boat festivals. The collection includes various dragon boat models, dragon boat paddles, gongs and drums, and traditional costumes, among which a full-scale replica of a Qing Dynasty Xixi dragon boat is the biggest highlight. A multimedia interactive area is also set up in the hall, where visitors can learn about the entire dragon boat making process via touch screen and watch exciting videos of previous dragon boat races. A dragon boat experience pool is set up outside the hall.

The Xixi Wetland Ecological Science Popularization Hall is located in the east of Xixi National Wetland Park and is a modern exhibition hall with the core mission of popularizing wetland ecological system scientific knowledge. The museum's permanent exhibitions include six sections: "What is a Wetland," "Formation of Xixi Wetland," "Wetland Plant Kingdom," "Wetland Animal World," "Wetlands and Humans," and "Protection of Xixi Wetland," which systematically introduce the definition, types, functions, and global distribution of important wetlands, as well as the geological origin, biodiversity, and protection achievements of Xixi Wetland through various forms including graphic panels, physical specimens, scene restorations, and multimedia interactions. The most attractive area for children is the "Wetland Animal World" interactive zone, featuring a touch pool (where safe aquatic organisms can be touched), bird call identification games, and wetland food chain puzzles. The science hall also regularly hosts characteristic educational activities such as "Wetland Little Guardian" family activities, wetland plant adoption, and bird watching training camps.

The rowing boat is the most characteristic transportation and touring method in Xixi Wetland, with a history of over a thousand years. Unlike the painted pleasure boats of West Lake, Xixi's rowing boats are smaller and slower, with the boatman standing at the stern and propelling the boat forward by stepping on the scull and holding the scull handle, with elegant movements full of ancient charm. Each rowing boat can seat 2-4 people, with a sunshade and cushioned seats for comfortable riding. The boat route covers the core protected area of Xixi Wetland, including Qiuxue Nunnery, Shentankou, Zhoujia Village, and Lianhuatan, with a total duration of about 1.5-2 hours. Sitting on the rowing boat, visitors can enjoy close-up views of reeds, camphor trees, and tallow trees along the wetland banks, watch water birds such as egrets, mallards, and kingfishers, and feel the Xixi artistic conception of "one bend of stream, one wisp of smoke." The boatman is usually also a narrator who introduces attractions along the way and Xixi's historical stories in Hangzhou dialect or Mandarin. The rowing boat experience at sunset is the most romantic.

Xixi Hong's Garden is located in the southwest of Xixi National Wetland Park and is the core scenic area of the second-phase development of Xixi Wetland, themed on the cultural heritage of the Hong family of Hangzhou during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Hong family was one of the most influential cultural families in Hangzhou's history, producing historical celebrities such as Hong Sheng (famous dramatist and author of "The Palace of Eternal Youth") and Hong Yixuan (famous scholar). The main buildings in Hong's Garden include the Hong Clan Ancestral Hall, Hong Sheng Memorial Hall, Qiantang Academy, and Qingping Mountain Hall, with elegant and simple architectural styles. The garden is planted with plum blossoms, osmanthus, lotus, and other flowers, offering scenery in all seasons. The Hong Sheng Memorial Hall introduces the life and creative journey of the author of "The Palace of Eternal Youth" in detail. The design of Hong's Garden perfectly combines Ming and Qing garden art with the natural landscape of Xixi Wetland. A large pond in the garden is full of lotus, which is especially spectacular when the lotus blooms in summer, earning it the reputation of "Xixi Lotus Garden." The garden also hosts the "Hong's Garden Plum Blossom Festival" every plum blossom season.