8 cities
Hangzhou
⛵ West Lake scenic area (incl. Leifeng Pagoda & boat cruises)
The lakeshore is free and open with no reservation needed; tickets only apply at paid spots — Leifeng Pagoda and similar are ticketed separately, cruises are sold by boat type and dock, and on-site ticket windows and docks are the most foreigner-passport-friendly.
What you need to know
- The lakeside walkways (Su Causeway, Bai Causeway, Broken Bridge, Hubin lakeshore, etc.) are free and open — no ticket, no reservation; only the paid parks and boat cruises need separate tickets
- Leifeng Pagoda: adults CNY 40, tickets available up to 7 days ahead; open May 1-Oct 31 8:00-20:00, Nov 1-Mar 15 8:00-17:30, Mar 16-Apr 30 8:00-19:00
- Cruises come in three types: island cruises (West Lake Cruise Company, CNY 55-70 per person, ticket includes island entry to Xiaoying Island / Three Pools Mirroring the Moon), round-the-lake painted pleasure boats (Zhejiang Foreign Affairs, CNY 50 per person at the counter price, no island stop), and rowing/sculling boats (CNY 150/180 per hour per boat)
- Island cruises can be bought and boarded at docks such as Hubin, Huagang, Zhongshan and Hangfan, and you may disembark at a different dock than you boarded; the CNY 35 online ticket for the round-the-lake pleasure boats is valid only from Huagang dock
- Rowing/sculling boats operate from 27 docks on weekdays, reduced to 10 on statutory holidays; fares are charged per boat (rowing boats carry max 6 passengers, sculling boats max 11), and the island-entry ticket is purchased separately
- Night cruises run May-October each year (Sunday-Thursday 17:00-21:00, Friday-Saturday until 21:30), boarding at Hubin 2nd/5th Parks, Children's Palace (Shaoniangong) and Broken Bridge docks
- Foreign visitors: buying online at paid spots requires a mainland-China phone number; at the Leifeng Pagoda ticket windows and the cruise docks you can buy on site with no online sign-up
How to book
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WeChat official account 「西湖旅游」 (West Lake Tourism)
Passport accepted
In the menu, tap 【景区门票】 (Scenic-area Tickets), pick a date and buy; Leifeng Pagoda and other paid spots go on sale 7 days ahead. Requires a mainland-China phone number
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Ticket offices at the individual cruise docks (各游船码头售票处)
Passport accepted
Buy on site and board — boat tickets are not tied to any ID; island cruises CNY 55-70 per person, rowing/sculling boats CNY 150/180 per hour per boat
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Leifeng Pagoda on-site ticket windows (雷峰塔景区售票窗口)
Passport accepted
If you have no mainland-China phone number, buy in person at the window and show your original passport
Sources
🛕 Lingyin Temple & Feilai Peak
Free admission from 2025-12-01 with a timed real-name reservation — no same-day tickets and no offline ticket sales. Official channels = the 「杭州灵隐飞来峰」 (Hangzhou Lingyin Feilai Peak) mini program on WeChat/Alipay, where passports can book directly; when a same-day slot is not full, on-site registration is the fallback.
What you need to know
- From 2025-12-01 the Feilai Peak scenic area (including Lingyin Temple, Yongfu Temple and Taoguang Temple) is free; the former Feilai Peak entrance ticket and the Lingyin Temple incense-flower voucher were abolished at the same time — the old dual-ticket system is gone
- Open 7:30-17:30 (last entry 17:00); morning session 7:30-12:00, afternoon session 12:00-17:00 — morning-session visitors may enter as late as 13:00, afternoon-session visitors as early as 11:00, and if you miss your slot entry is refused
- Reserve with your real name at least 1 day ahead, up to 7 days in advance (tickets for a given day are released at 8:00 seven days before the visit, and quotas refresh daily at 8:00); no same-day reservations, and once a day is fully booked it is closed
- ID documents: mainland-China residents may only reserve with their Resident ID card; non-mainland visitors reserve with a passport, a foreigner's permanent residence ID card, or Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan documents. Entry requires the original document with an in-person ID check, and the same document can enter/exit only once per day
- Quotas (tour groups included): 35,000/day on weekdays, 50,000/day on weekends, 65,000/day on holidays; one phone number can book for up to 5 people and one document can be booked once per day, and 3 no-shows within 30 days lock you out of reservations for 30 days
- When a same-day slot is not yet full, you can register on site with your original document for entry (one person, one document; first come, first served) — the main path for foreign visitors without a mainland-China phone number
- During typhoons and other extreme weather the temples may close temporarily (both typhoons in July/August 2026 forced temporary closures before reopening); check announcements on the Lingyin Temple official website before you go
How to book
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Mini program 「杭州灵隐飞来峰」 (Hangzhou Lingyin Feilai Peak) on WeChat/Alipay
Passport accepted
Make a real-name reservation and pick date and time slot; passport / foreigner's permanent residence ID numbers can be entered directly. Show the original document at entry for an in-person ID check
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On-site registration channel at the scenic area (景区现场登记通道)
Passport accepted
Open only when same-day slots are not full: register with your original passport, one person per document, first come first served
Sources
ℹ️ Hangzhou general booking rules
Hangzhou is a 'free-entry city': the bulk is free, and mandatory reservation exists only at Lingyin-Feilai Peak; paid spots all route through the 「西湖旅游」 (West Lake Tourism) WeChat account, and in peak season (Sep-Nov weekends and holidays) traffic controls need more advance planning than tickets.
What you need to know
- Lingyin-Feilai Peak is the only mandatory real-name reservation point in the West Lake scenic area; Leifeng Pagoda and other paid spots sell tickets up to 7 days ahead, and the remaining paid parks (Guo's Villa, Qianwang Shrine, Six Harmonies Pagoda, Yue Fei Temple, etc.) each sell their own tickets independently
- The two WeChat official accounts 「西湖旅游」 (West Lake Tourism) and 「杭州西湖风景名胜区」 (Hangzhou West Lake Scenic Area) are the official ticketing/announcement channels for paid spots
- General path for foreign visitors: online reservations need a mainland-China phone number — without one, use the on-site windows; buying at cruise docks has no ID requirement
- Peak-season traffic: on Sep-Nov weekends and holidays an odd-even license-plate restriction applies 8:00-17:00, and the Lingyin area and Nanshan Road (Yanggong Causeway-Yuhuang Hill section) add extra entry caps; drivers must apply for a 『西湖通』 (Xihutong) pass 1 day ahead (same-day applications not accepted), limited to once per car per month
- Metro plus scenic-area shuttle buses reach Broken Bridge, Leifeng Pagoda, Lingyin and other hot spots directly — in peak season more reliable than taxis or driving
- In typhoon season (July-September) temples and hill parks may close temporarily; check the official website / official WeChat accounts before setting out