Seventy-five miles southwest of Shanghai, Hangzhou is organized around the vast West Lake. As in Marco Polo's day, boat excursions are the thing: All types of craft gather at docks along the lake; larger tour vessels sail roughly every half-hour from a spot across from the Hangzhou Overseas Chinese Hotel (15 Hubin Rd.). You can rent your own skiff in Hubin Park, at the foot of the Baidi Causeway.

Prices quoted are for October 2007. The country code is 86.

Lodging
Well beyond the madding crowds, the Fuchun Resort melds Chinese architecture, high-tech rooms, and first-rate spa and sports facilities into a true retreat (571-6346-1111; fuchunresort.com; doubles, $260–$290). By contrast, the urbane Sofitel Westlake has the best location in town, with hot tea, cool shopping, and placid water all around (571-8707-5858; sofitel.com; doubles, $245–$355). Set amid secluded gardens on West Lake's quieter north shore, the Shangri-La has an excellent restaurant and four wings of various ages and aesthetics (571-8797-7951; shangri-la.com; doubles, $158–$218). Redefining the lakeshore, the expansive new Hyatt Regency has state-of-the-art facilities and a lobby bar that was my favorite (571-8779-1234; hangzhou.regency.hyatt.com; doubles, $158–$285). The Radisson Plaza Hotel is also spanking new but suffers from its downtown location, some distance from West Lake (571-8515-8888; radisson.com; doubles, $156–$195). A flood of new accommodations has created bargains like the Regal Plaza, which offers more-than-adequate facilities—albeit also far from the lake (571-5619-9999; regalplazahotel.com; doubles, $100–$180).

Dining
Check out morehangzhou.com for the most current listings of bars, clubs, restaurants, and teahouses. The shoreline stretch of Hubin Road and adjacent Dong Po Road offer Armani, Dior, Hermès, and Zegna boutiques, along with such pseudo-Western pubs as Barossa, with a steakhouse menu and live music (13 Hubin Rd.; 571-8717-2538; entrés, $4–$10), and Alaska, an upscale seafood restaurant (8 Dong Po Rd.; 571-8717-2590; entrés, $7–$13). A better bet is West Lake One, a triangular upstairs restaurant with a terrace overlooking Hangzhou's glossiest streets (12 Hubin Rd.; 571-8702-9988; entrés, $5–$11). Exotic and even bizarre is the rule at Qianwang Meilu, which serves Chinese banquets to the country's newly affluent (101-1-2 Nanshan Rd.; 571-8791-8800; entrés, $8–$20).