Which West Lake boat goes to the island (Three Pools Mirroring the Moon)?
Take an island boat (上岛游) run by West Lake Pleasure Boat Co. (西湖游船公司). The official pages list ¥55 per person for a leisure boat and ¥70 for a luxury leisure boat, and say the fare includes entry to Xiaoying Islet (小瀛洲), the island where Three Pools Mirroring the Moon (三潭印月) stands. Lake-circling boats go round the lake but do not stop there.
One caution on prices. The most complete official price list carries no date. A January 2023 guide from the Hangzhou tourism bureau shows the same island prices, ¥70 and ¥55. No daytime boat price list dated 2025 or 2026 was found, so treat the daytime fares below as published reference prices, not as a confirmed 2026 tariff. Night-tour prices are listed separately with their years. Confirm the fare at the pier before you pay.
West Lake boat types: lake-circling, island and hand-rowed boats
| Type | Run by | Island stop? | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake-circling boat (环湖游) | Zhejiang Foreign Affairs boat company (浙江外事海船) | No | Big painted boats seating about 40 to 100 people; about 50 minutes; ¥35–50 on the ordinary boat |
| Island boat (上岛游) | West Lake Pleasure Boat Co. | Yes, Xiaoying Islet | Painted boats, leisure boats and large yachts; ¥55 or ¥70 per person; island entrance included |
| Hand-rowed (手划船) and sculling (摇橹船) boats | Local boatmen | Possible, with a separate island ticket | Priced per boat per hour, not per person; one-hour minimum |
West Lake boat prices: what the official pages list
Island boats (with island entrance)
- ¥55 per person: leisure boats at Lakeside Park No. 1 (湖滨一公园), Zhongshan Park (中山公园), Hangzhou Hotel (杭饭) and King Qian's Temple (钱王祠); painted boats and leisure boats at Children's Palace (少年宫); large yachts and leisure boats at Huagang (花港观鱼).
- ¥70 per person: luxury leisure boats at Lakeside Park No. 2 (湖滨二公园) and No. 5 (湖滨五公园). The No. 2 pier boats include the painted boats Lanxie (兰栧号) and Quanrao (荃桡号).
These piers also take charters. The January 2023 guide gives island-boat hours of 8:00–17:00; the undated page gives none.
Lake-circling boats (no island)
- Ordinary painted boat from Huagang pier: about 50 minutes, ¥50 at the box office or ¥35 online. The online ticket only works at Huagang.
- Ordinary painted boat from Kuahu Bridge pier (跨虹桥, near Yue Fei's Temple): about 50 minutes, ¥50.
- Luxury boat "Pearl of West Lake" (西湖明珠号) from Lakeside Park No. 2: about 50 minutes, passing Su Causeway, Three Pools Mirroring the Moon, Leifeng Pagoda, Broken Bridge and the Music Fountain. The page gives no price. The January 2023 guide lists ¥48 for the luxury lake-circling boat from Lakeside Park No. 2 and ¥35 from Huagang.
Rowing and sculling boats
- Hand-rowed boat: ¥150 per boat per hour, up to 6 people.
- Sculling boat: ¥180 per boat per hour. The undated page and the 2023 English page say up to 11 people; the January 2023 guide says 8.
- Both have a one-hour minimum, then ¥75 or ¥90 per extra half hour. Less than half an hour is charged as half an hour, and prices do not change on holidays.
- For the island, the island ticket is extra, and your time on the island counts toward the rental time.
Which pier do I board at, and where can I get off?
The official page says you can board an island boat at any pier, and you do not have to get off where you got on. The January 2023 guide names nine boarding piers: Lakeside Park No. 1, No. 2 and No. 5, Children's Palace, Zhongshan Park, Hangzhou Hotel, Yue Fei's Temple, Huagang and King Qian's Temple.
After the island you can land at one of four piers:
- Lakeside Park (湖滨): near the downtown area.
- Hangzhou Hotel pier (杭饭码头): near Yue Fei's Temple and Beishan Street.
- Huagang pier (花港观鱼码头): near Leifeng Pagoda, Prince Bay Park and Su Causeway.
- Zhongshan Park pier (中山公园码头): near Louwailou, Zhongshan Park and Bai Causeway.
The 2023 guide adds that your time on the island is not limited. It also says to confirm the exact route and price before boarding, and, if you want the island, to ask whether the island entrance is included. Pick the pier nearest your hotel or your next stop.
Of the three islands in the lake, only Xiaoying Islet is open to visitors. Ruangong Islet (阮公墩) closed in the late 1990s and Huxin Pavilion (湖心亭, Mid-Lake Pavilion) closed in 2010.
How to buy West Lake boat tickets as a foreign visitor
The tourism bureau's ‘West Lake Cruise Boats’ pages, January 2023 boat guide and June 2025 island night-tour notice do not say whether a foreign passport is accepted, whether real-name registration is needed, which payment methods work, or whether there is an English ticketing channel. Do not assume either way. What the pages do say:
- Island boats: the January 2023 guide says you can buy tickets by scanning a QR code at any of the nine lakeside piers. The undated page lists a fare at each pier but does not describe how to pay.
- Lake-circling boats: the 2023 guide says tickets are sold through the WeChat official account "West Lake Travel" (西湖旅游), under "scenic spot tickets" (景点门票). The undated page recommends booking the Huagang boat online in advance.
- Island night tour: the 2025 notice says tickets are sold at the box office, and by scanning a code on site.
The tourism bureau's January 2023 boat guide and June 2025 island night-tour notice do not say which app their ticket QR codes open. For the general picture on paying, see our page on whether cash is accepted in China. We can help you plan your Hangzhou days and tell you how to buy; we do not sell boat tickets.
West Lake night cruise 2026: hours, piers and what is not confirmed
No official 2026 notice on night-cruise or night-tour hours, prices or piers was found. So this page cannot tell you whether the night boats are running on a given evening. The undated page puts the night season from early May to early October, so at the start of October it is normally at or near its end. Ask at the pier or phone before you plan an evening around it. There are three separate night products, so do not mix their times.
1. The standard night cruise
West Lake Pleasure Boat Co. runs night cruises every year from May to October. Hours are generally Sunday to Thursday 17:00–21:00 and Friday and Saturday 17:00–21:30. Boats leave from Lakeside Park No. 2, Lakeside Park No. 5, Children's Palace and Broken Bridge (断桥). The trip goes round the lake in about 50 minutes, with a 5-minute stop at Three Pools Mirroring the Moon. These details come from the undated page and the English page dated 2023-08-15.
2. The 2025 ring-lake night lines
A notice dated 2025-04-08 gives night hours of 18:30–21:00 from Sunday to Thursday and 18:30–21:30 on Friday and Saturday. It names two lines: "Yin Hu Shang Song Yun Jingpin You" (饮湖上·宋韵精品游) on the large painted boat Baoshi Fang (宝石舫), and "Yin Hu Shang Song Feng Tese You" (饮湖上·宋风特色游) on the Quanrao dragon boat and the Yujin Fang (玉津舫). In 2025 the first piers to open were Lakeside Park No. 2 and No. 5, with the others to open as crowds required. The notice gives no price. It is a newspaper report republished on the city government site.
3. The island night tour
This is a Song-dynasty-themed evening on Xiaoying Islet, built around the poet Su Dongpo, with poetry, music and dance. The bureau's notice of 2025-06-23 says:
- It started on 21 June 2025.
- Boarding piers: Lakeside Park No. 2, Children's Palace and King Qian's Temple.
- First boat at 18:45 each night; last boat off the island at 22:00.
- ¥188 per person at the box office; you scan a code on site to buy.
- The sail to the island takes about 15 minutes. You can stay as long as you like before the last boat.
- In bad weather, the instructions of the West Lake Water Area Management Office decide.
The same tour launched on 2024-07-23 at a promotional ¥168 per person, with boats from 18:45 to 21:15 from the Yihuchun (一湖春) and Lakeside Park No. 2 piers. A report dated 2024-07-25 on the West Lake Scenic Area Management Committee site gives the phone numbers 0571-87969090 and 0571-87980202. It is a 2024 report, so the numbers may have changed.
How long does the cruise take, and can I rent a rowing or self-drive boat?
Lake-circling boats and the standard night cruise both take about 50 minutes. The tourism bureau's ‘West Lake Cruise Boats’ pages and January 2023 boat guide give no duration for the daytime island boats. Rental boats are paid by time, with a one-hour minimum for rowing and sculling boats.
On days that are not statutory holidays the page lists 27 piers for hand-rowed boats; on statutory holidays it lists 10. Only some of these piers also have sculling boats; the rest have hand-rowed boats only. The list is not cut back during the night-cruise season.
Two other rentals are listed. Self-rowing boats at Lakeside Park No. 6 cost ¥30 per hour with a one-hour minimum, then ¥15 per half hour, plus a ¥300 deposit. The page says you can row to the island, but it is too far to recommend. Self-drive boats at Broken Bridge are ¥20 (4 seats) or ¥25 (6 seats) per half hour with a ¥200 deposit, with a half-hour minimum during the day and a one-hour minimum at night. They cannot reach the island and must be returned to Broken Bridge. The January 2023 guide describes electric self-drive boats at West Inner Lake, Changqiao Bay and North Inner Lake piers at ¥30 per half hour.
As of May 2026, West Lake Pleasure Boat Co. had upgraded 54 of its 92 motor boats to electric, smart boats, with the other 38 planned before 2030. The report mentions new types such as the large painted Phoenix boat (凤船) and the small painted Lotus boat (莲花船), but nothing about fares, piers or hours. For the rest of your trip, see our Hangzhou travel guide.
