Yichuang Town
Yichuang Town was formerly the Zhijiang Cultural and Creative Industry Park, transformed from a cement plant. It is home to talent-supplying institutions such as the Xiangshan Campus of the China Academy of Art and the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music, and has attracted leading cultural and creative figures like Tsai Chih-chung as well as companies including Game Science. The area features four provincial-level cultural venues, including the Zhejiang Museum (New Branch) and the Zhejiang Library (New Branch), forming the “Ten Scenes of Yichuang,” such as Phoenix Art Market and Little Iceland. It has participated in projects like the visual identity design for the Hangzhou Asian Games and the special effects production for “The Wandering Earth II,” and was selected as a typical case of innovation deepening in Hangzhou in 2023. In 2025, the renovation and upgrading project for the Phoenix Creative International Zone was launched, focusing on attracting industry projects in animation, gaming, and film & television technology; it has been approved to establish the China (Zhijiang) Audio-Visual Innovation and Entrepreneurship Base.
As a tourist destination per se, this place mainly offers the Little Iceland attraction and the official Black Myth merchandise store. Other commercial facilities within the park are not very developed, and there are almost no dining options. It is more suitable for a quick visit if you happen to be passing by.
If you stumbled upon photos of “Little Iceland” on Xiaohongshu, you might be quite disappointed when you get here. After all, the water isn’t edited to look blue or green like in those posts; it’s simply a boardwalk built over the water, which is quite unique and makes for nice photos, but the water itself is not clear at all—it’s very murky. There are probably a few fish inside, and if you’re lucky, you might spot them.
It also makes perfect sense that the Black Myth specialty store is located here, as the Hangzhou branch of Game Science operates right here, and this branch houses the core development team behind Black Myth: Wukong. The entire store is quite distinctive, featuring a wide variety of merchandise and figurines of game characters, along with some large-scale sculptures displayed exclusively for exhibition purposes. The shop itself is also very spacious. If you’re a fan of the game, it’s definitely worth stopping by to check in.
Qingshan Lake
Qingshan Lake is a large man-made lake in Lin’an District, Hangzhou, renowned for its spectacular “Water Forest.” In the core scenic area, dawn redwoods and bald cypresses grow directly in the water, creating an incredibly photogenic landscape. It’s arguably the most Instagrammable spot in the area—crowded with visitors on regular weekends, and during the May Day holiday, it’s packed beyond belief.
Qingshan Lake is vast, and the Water Forest is a separate scenic area with its own admission ticket priced at 40 yuan. The scenery inside is truly beautiful, and the facilities are well-maintained. A walking boardwind has been constructed through the Water Forest, designed so that you basically don’t have to backtrack. At the far end, there’s even a deer park—if you’re lucky, you might catch sight of deer wading into the water. Kayaks are also available for rent.
However, due to the overwhelming number of tourists during the May Day holiday, there was absolutely no parking available nearby. We had to park at the Civic Center next to the metro station. From the metro station to the Scenic Area Visitor Center, the distance is about 1 kilometer. A paid shuttle bus service is provided, but the ticketing process is rather complicated—you can’t pay upon boarding; instead, you must pay at the entrance of the metro station first before getting on the bus.
Overall, I’d still recommend this scenic area, especially if you visit on a regular weekday.
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