Folk Tales of the West Lake

Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang Province, about 200 kilometers south of Shanghai. It was sacked by Kublai Khan at the end of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and was visited by Marco Polo in the late 13th century, when he called it ”... the finest and most splendid city in the world.” One side of the city is a freshwater lake, the other is a huge river flowing toward the ocean. These are some of the tales from that magic region.