The Xixi Wetlands, China's only national wetland park, is 6km west of central Hangzhou in a gorgeous setting of mulberry trees, bamboo groves, lagoons and soft, rippling canals.
People have been living in the wetlands for almost 2,000 years, weaving silk and fishing, and the park aims to enshrine that ancient way of life.
The park has a silk-weaving museum and boat rides through the many canals created by six causeways and innumerable small islands of bamboo and mulberry.
The overall design was put together by renowned developers Woods Bagot, which focused on green tourism, sustainability and the goal of creating a tourist magnet to rival the West Lake.
The layout of the 60-square-kilometre park includes villages such as Zhoujiacun and the Hazy Fisher Village, that offer bed and breakfast options set amidst small lagoons, sinuous stone bridges and glimpses of egrets.
The Xixi Wetlands were not just a centre of silk production and a retreat for poets since the Tang dynasty, but also the birthplace for dragon-boat racing - thought to have been invented there hundreds of years ago.