Leifeng Pagoda

Tour Route Design Introduction of Leifeng Pagoda

1. Core Positioning

"The real prison of the White Snake Legend — Built for an imperial concubine, immortalized by a folk tale, collapsed and reborn anew."

Standing on Xizhao Hill along the southern bank of West Lake, Leifeng Pagoda ranks among the Ten Views of West Lake. Its core selling point: more than an ancient pagoda, it is a vessel filled with legends — erected by a king to celebrate his newborn son, forever tied to the tragic romance of the White Snake, collapsed dramatically in 1924 sparking nationwide public discussion, and reconstructed in 2002 as a steel and copper monument enshrining ancient ruins. It is described as "a thousand-year ruin wrapped in modern architecture".

For overseas visitors, its greatest draw lies in its living legend: Buddha’s hair relics rest beneath the pagoda’s foundation, while glass sightseeing elevators run inside the modern structure. The building embodies stark contrasts between myth and reality, ruins and rebirth, antiquity and modernity — a rare combination unseen across the globe.

2. Core Attraction — One Legend, One Ruin, One Rebirth

The Legend: Tale of the White Snake, China’s Beloved Romantic Folklore

Leifeng Pagoda’s national fame stems not from its architectural grandeur, but its deep connection to one of China’s Four Great Folk Love Legends, Legend of the White Snake.

In the timeless tale, a thousand-year white snake spirit transforms into the beautiful Bai Suzhen and falls in love with mortal Xu Xian. The monk Fahai tears the couple apart and imprisons Bai Suzhen beneath Leifeng Pagoda. Years later, their son tops the imperial civil service examinations and comes to pay tribute at the pagoda, which collapses to reunite mother and son.

The legend turns Leifeng Pagoda into a symbol of steadfast love and sacrifice. Standing before the pagoda, overseas visitors can feel the sorrow of Bai Suzhen’s thousand-year captivity and the triumph of her liberation, more stirring than any museum exhibit.

Ruin: A Turbulent Thousand-Year Lifespan

The real history of Leifeng Pagoda is more dramatic than its myth:

1. Construction (977 AD): King Qian Chu of Wuyue Kingdom built Huangfei Pagoda to celebrate his concubine Huang giving birth to a prince, an eight-sided five-story brick and wood pavilion pagoda.

2. Ming Dynasty Wars: Japanese pirates burned the wooden structure, leaving only a red brick core standing like an aged monk beside West Lake.

3. Qing Dynasty Looting: Folk superstition claimed pagoda bricks cured illness and protected pregnancies, prompting locals to steal bricks one by one, a phenomenon documented by Lu Xun in his essays.

4. Collapse (September 25, 1924): Eroded by wind, rain and brick theft, the hollowed foundation collapsed, sending yellow dust billowing across the lake. Hidden miniature Buddhist sutras carved into the brick holes were unearthed from the ruins, stunning academia. The collapse perfectly aligned with the legend’s plot of Bai Suzhen’s escape, and Lu Xun used the event to critique feudal moral oppression.

Rebirth: New Copper-Clad Pagoda (2002)

Seventy-eight years after its collapse, Leifeng Pagoda rose again in 2002 with an ingenious "pagoda within a pagoda" design: a new steel frame structure fully encloses and protects the ancient pagoda ruins beneath it. Visitors can walk onto the foundation level to view original ancient brick fragments and the underground palace entrance, standing directly atop thousand-year relics.

China’s first full-color copper carved pagoda, crafted by bronze master Zhu Bingren, stands 72 meters tall with 280 tons of copper used for its roof, dougong brackets and railings, styled in Song-dynasty architecture. Sightseeing elevators inside contrast ancient heritage with modern convenience, exemplifying China’s innovative approach to protecting historical ruins with contemporary engineering.

3. Viewing Experience — Southern West Lake’s Highest Observation Deck

"Leifeng Pagoda Bathed in Sunset Glow" has been a designated West Lake View since the Southern Song Dynasty. At dusk, golden sunlight shimmers on the copper pagoda and lake surface, its silhouette paired with Baoshu Pagoda across the lake to form the iconic scene "One Lake Reflecting Two Pagodas".

Visitors can take elevators or climb stairs to the top floor for panoramic West Lake views: rolling mountains to the west, Su Causeway and Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon to the north, downtown Hangzhou to the east, and Qiantang River visible on clear days. Many travelers time their visits for sunset to capture the famous Leifeng Pagoda sunset scenery.

4. Cultural Highlights — Underground Palace Treasures & Thousand-Year Sutras

Archaeological excavations of the underground palace in 2001 uncovered priceless cultural relics, most notably an Ashoka Pagoda housing Buddha’s hair spiral relics. Sutra bricks carved with miniature Buddhist scriptures inside the pagoda walls survive as some of the earliest Five Dynasties printed texts in existence. Selected artifacts are displayed at the West Lake Museum, while multimedia exhibitions inside the new pagoda narrate the full history of Leifeng Pagoda for visitors regardless of language.