Hangzhou for Two
West Lake at Sunset, a Night Boat & Tea in the Hills

This is Hangzhou at its loveliest. As the light softens, the surface of West Lake turns gold and pink, and across the water the Leifeng Pagoda slowly lights up. Watch it together from the lakeshore or the Su Causeway and you will understand why Chinese poets have written about this lake for a thousand years. To see the whole of West Lake bathed in golden light, ride the escalator up the Leifeng Pagoda near sunset — the entire lake lies below the two of you.

The Su Causeway is a path almost three kilometres long that runs straight across West Lake, built by the poet Su Dongpo a thousand years ago. It has water on both sides, willows and peach trees the whole way, and a string of small arched bridges. Walk it hand in hand in the early evening and you can catch the sunset on both your left and your right, with cyclists and strollers taking it slow around you. In spring the peach blossom turns the whole causeway pink; in autumn the cool air makes it the perfect walk.

In the middle of West Lake sits a small island and three stone pagodas standing in the water — the "Three Pools Mirroring the Moon", the very scene printed on China's 1-yuan note. On a full-moon night, candles are lit inside the pagodas and the light spills through their round openings, merging with the moon's reflection to create the illusion of many moons on the water. Take a boat out into the lake in the evening — quiet, cool, just the lights on the far shore and the silhouettes of the pagodas. It is a still, lovely date night. Night cruises run roughly 18:30–21:00 (until 21:30 at weekends).

For a more spectacular night, take in Impression West Lake (印象西湖), an open-air light-and-sound performance staged on the surface of West Lake and directed by the filmmaker Zhang Yimou. The stage sits just below the waterline, so the hundreds of performers appear to walk and dance on the water, telling the city's love legends through light, music, and the real lake as the backdrop. It runs about 55 minutes and makes a memorable date night. Book ahead and check the schedule for your date, as it can pause for seasonal maintenance.

South-west of West Lake is the home of Longjing (Dragon Well) green tea, the most famous tea in China. Tea villages such as Meijiawu have over 160 tea houses tucked into the bamboo hills, while Manjuelong is the osmanthus village. Sit in a tea house beside the plantations in the afternoon — cool air, the smell of leaves and earth — and you have one of the slowest, loveliest stretches of the trip. Order freshly picked Longjing with a few local snacks and settle in for a long talk; it is the most tender afternoon Hangzhou gives you.

There is one time of year when the whole of Hangzhou smells sweet — from late September to mid-October, the osmanthus (guihua) blooms all at once, and a soft, honeyed scent hangs in the air across the parks and lakeshore. The village of Manjuelong is the best place to take it in. Walk under the trees as the tiny yellow petals drift down, then stop for a cup of osmanthus-scented Longjing tea made only in this season. It is the stretch of a couple's trip that lingers in the memory — both the sight and the smell. If your dates line up with it, count yourselves lucky.

Hangzhou cuisine is gentle and refined, which makes it ideal for a date-night dinner. For the special meal, choose a restaurant with a view of West Lake and order the city's classics to share — Dongpo pork, meltingly tender in a dark sweet sauce; West Lake sweet-and-sour fish; and stir-fried shrimp with Longjing tea leaves, fragrant with tea. Eat slowly as the lights come up around the lake. It is both delicious and just atmospheric enough to feel like an occasion. A good lakeview table is worth booking ahead at weekends.

At the end of the Bai Causeway is the Broken Bridge, a small stone bridge that opens China's most famous love legend — the place where Bai Suzhen met Xu Xian, her husband-to-be, in the rain and the two shared an umbrella. The story ends with her imprisoned beneath the Leifeng Pagoda, which ties the two spots into a single thread. Stand on the bridge, look across the water to the pagoda, and tell each other the tale; it is a small, meaningful moment for a couple. The name comes from how snow melts from one side first, making the bridge look "broken" in the middle.

Hangzhou has the kind of luxury hotels that make the stay part of the memory — the Four Seasons on West Lake, with Chinese gardens and water; Amanfayun, an old village set among tea hills near the Lingyin Temple; the Banyan Tree by the Xixi wetlands; and the Sofitel right on the lake, within walking distance of the water. Open the curtains to a lake or tea-field view, sip tea in a quiet garden — it is an atmosphere ordinary hotels cannot give you, and ideal for a honeymoon or a special celebration. Book a lake-view room ahead, as they fill up fast in high season.

End the evening with a wander through the old town. Hefang Street, at the foot of Wushan Hill, is a pedestrian street that still keeps old Hangzhou's atmosphere — timber shopfronts, long-established tea houses, traditional sweet shops, medicine halls, and street snacks. After dark the lanterns come on and the mood turns warm, perfect for strolling hand in hand, picking up a snack, and ducking into a tea house. For something quieter, turn off into the side lanes, where there are fewer people. It is an easy date that rounds off the day nicely.