The West Lake Scenic Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2011, is renowned as one of China’s most iconic landscapes, blending natural beauty with centuries of cultural heritage. Encircling a serene freshwater lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, this 59-square-kilometer area has inspired poets, painters, and emperors for millennia. Its harmonious fusion of pagodas, causeways, gardens, and temples against misty mountains and tranquil waters embodies the Chinese aesthetic of "mountain-water harmony."