Stone bridge
Over the canal.
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A historic stone arch bridge over the Grand Canal in north Hangzhou, first built in 1631 at the end of the Ming and rebuilt in 1885 under the Qing; it told travellers arriving from the north that they had reached the city. The Grand Canal is the world's longest and oldest man-made waterway, linking Beijing in the north with Hangzhou in the south; its first sections were dug more than two thousand years ago, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2014, and Hangzhou was its southern end. Restored old quarters line both banks around the bridge, with museums of traditional crafts, fans, umbrellas and knives, cafés and shops, while barges and water buses ply the canal to the city centre. The bridge and the surrounding quarters are free, as are many of the nearby museums; you can arrive by water bus from near West Lake, and the canal banks are loveliest in the evening when they light up.
Over the canal.
Fans and umbrellas.
To the centre.
Gongshu District, north Hangzhou
By water bus on the Grand Canal from near West Lake; the visit is free, and evenings are loveliest.