Impression West Lake Travel Guide

Brief Introduction
"Impression West Lake" is a rare flash of the spectacular in 2,200-year-old Hangzhou, which has little dazzle compared to the imperial splendor of Beijing, the stylish, shock-of-the-new of Shanghai or the glittery, shop-till-you-drop energy of Hong Kong. Its charms are slower, more traditional.

At night, West Lake becomes the watery site of an imaginative, at times startling, multimedia show called "Impression West Lake" directed by Zhang Yimou, China´s most famous film director, the nightly performance is a skillfully crafted fusion of light, sound and movement. Based on an old Chinese love story, it is performed literally in and on the lake, on barges and atop platforms submerged in several inches of water. Injunctions against taking photographs are roundly ignored by fans, who brandish phone cameras in lakeside bleacher seats, trying to capture the show´s visual magic.

Features
Performances, distinguished by ever-shifting lighting and colors, have a spectral quality that meshes well with Japanese New Age composer Kitaro´s music.