Leifeng Pagoda (雷峰塔)

Attraction · Hangzhou. A rebuilt lakeside pagoda over excavated ruins, with a lift to the top-floor deck.

Source: https://chinafootnotes.com/places/leifeng-pagoda · Data checked 2026-10-08 · Rendered for 2026-10-09 (Asia/Shanghai). Facts carry their status; "not found yet" means we searched and found no reliable source.

Notices in effect

• 2026-09-01 to 2026-11-30: Autumn peak season: shuttle buses run from 12 metro stations around West Lake, including routes for Leifeng Pagoda from Longxiangqiao and Wushan Square stations.

Why go

Leifeng Pagoda (雷峰塔) stands on Xizhao Hill on West Lake’s south shore. The original tower collapsed in 1924, and the present five-storey pagoda was built in 2002 directly over the excavated ruins, which you can see through a glass cover on the ground floor. A ticket covers the ruins, wood carvings of the White Snake legend and a lift to a deck overlooking the lake. The night view from across the water is free.

What to do

• Look down at the original ruins. On the ground floor the excavated brick ruins sit under a glass cover, so you can look straight down at the foundation of the tower that collapsed in 1924.
• Ride the lift to the top deck. The tower has lifts and stairs, and viewing balconies project from the upper floors. From the top you look over Three Pools Mirroring the Moon and the Su and Bai causeways.
• Follow the White Snake carvings. Wood carvings and murals on the floors retell the White Snake legend that made the pagoda famous.
• Climb the hill past the pavilions. Sunset Pavilion and Miaoyin Pavilion stand on Xizhao Hill, and a long stairway leads up to the tower.
• See it lit from across the lake. The pagoda is lit every night, and Changqiao Park on the shore is a quiet place to watch it at dusk.

• Don't miss: Online tickets need a Chinese ID number, so visitors with only a passport should plan to buy at the ticket office.

• Best time: Late afternoon before closing; weekdays
• Skip if: You want a historic standing tower. This is a 2002 reconstruction, and the draw is the ruins and the view.

Practical details

• Hours: 08:00–20:00 May–Oct; 17:30 close Nov–mid-Mar
• Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun: 08:00–20:00, last entry 19:30
• Mar 16–Apr 30 (03-16 to 04-30), Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun: 08:00–19:00, last entry 18:30
• May–Oct (05-01 to 10-31), Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun: 08:00–20:00, last entry 19:30
• Nov–mid-Mar (11-01 to 03-15), Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun: 08:00–17:30, last entry 17:00
• The operator says hours can be adjusted for events and the notice posted on site governs. No weekly closing day is listed.
• In severe weather the operator can close the site temporarily; closure and reopening notices are posted on its news page.
• Admission: Ticketed · adult ¥40
• Adult: ¥40
• Concession: Ages 6–18 and full-time students up to undergraduate level ¥20 (Valid ID or student card)
• Concession: Ages 60–69 ¥20 (Valid ID (Chinese page))
• Concession: Ages 70 and over (Chinese page: free; English page: half price (¥20))
• Free: Children 6 or under, or 1.2 m and under (Age or height check)
• Free: Disabled visitors (Disability ID)
• Free: Active military and some entitled groups (Chinese page) (Valid ID)
• The Chinese and English operator pages disagree on visitors aged 70 and over (free versus half price). Foreign passports and foreign student cards are not mentioned for any concession.
• Park IC cards are not valid.
• Booking: Online needs a Chinese ID; ticket office otherwise
• Leifeng Pagoda Scenic Area (雷峰塔景区) — WeChat → search 雷峰塔景区 mini-program · passport: no
• Ticket office at the foot of the hill (景区售票处)
• Passport accepted: unknown — Passport purchase at the ticket office is described only by media, so ask at the window.
• The operator’s English page states that online purchase needs the buyer’s Chinese ID number and that no third-party agents are authorised.
• The operator pages do not state a walk-up rule. A Bendibao guide first published in 2020 says foreign guests without a Chinese ID card buy at the ticket office, and karenvW3425DS (Jan 2026) queued for tickets at the site on a public holiday.
• The Bendibao guide says online tickets are sold up to seven days ahead through the mini-program 雷峰塔景区.
• Last admission: Last entry 19:30 May–Oct; 17:00 Nov–mid-Mar
• Time to allow: 1–1.5 hr
• Getting there: No metro at the gate · shuttle or bus to Jingci
• Show a taxi driver: 杭州市西湖区南山路15号 雷峰塔景区
• Foreign visitors: Online tickets need a Chinese ID number

Not found yet

• booking.passport.accepted: The operator says online tickets need a Chinese ID; passport purchase at the ticket office is described only by media pages that carry over an older notice. (searched: Operator English site, Operator Chinese site, Web search (English), Web search (Chinese), Tripadvisor / Trip.com Moments, reddit, Xiaohongshu)

Traveler tips

• Online tickets need a Chinese ID number, so plan on the ticket office. The pagoda’s English site says online ticket purchase requires the buyer’s valid Chinese ID number, and that the operator has not authorised any third-party ticket agents. A visitor with only a passport should expect to buy at the ticket office at the foot of the hill (售票处). Caveat: The operator does not describe the window route for foreign guests. A Bendibao guide first published in 2020 says children and foreign guests without a Chinese ID card are directed to the ticket office, but that is an old page. karenvW3425DS queued to get tickets and then queued again to enter on a public holiday (Jan 2026), without saying what ID was shown. 迪迦女孩 (29 Apr 2026) writes that visitors without a second-generation Chinese ID card must buy at the window, and that an online booking can be refunded until 22:00 on the day. (2 travelers) source
• Adult ticket ¥40; concessions are tied to ID. The adult ticket is ¥40. Children aged 6 and under or 1.2 m and under enter free, students up to undergraduate level and ages 6 to 18 pay ¥20, and people aged 60 to 69 pay ¥20. Free entry applies to disabled visitors, active military and some other groups, and park IC cards are not valid. Caveat: The Chinese page lists visitors aged 70 and over as free; the English page lists them at half price. Neither page says whether foreign passports or foreign student cards qualify. source
• Hours shorten from 1 November: close 17:30, last entry 17:00. From May to October the pagoda is open 08:00 to 20:00 with ticket sales and entry stopping at 19:30. From 16 March to 30 April the hours are 08:00 to 19:00 (last entry 18:30). From 1 November to 15 March it closes at 17:30 and the last entry is 17:00, so a dusk visit in November needs an early start. Caveat: The operator can adjust hours for events and says the notice posted on site governs. source
• Go up about an hour before dusk, but check the closing time. Head up about an hour before dusk to see West Lake in golden light. In May to October the pagoda stays open to 20:00, so you can stay on for the lit view; from 1 November it shuts at 17:30. _Caveat: gotravelling suggests going up just before dusk, and Donovan_l names late afternoon as the best time. Sunset comes earlier every week of autumn, and neither author gives a clock time for it. Xiaohongshu visitors agree that dusk is crowded: cindy (5 Oct 2025, National Day) entered at 16:50 and reached the top too late for golden light on the water, advising to be up before 17:00; 随便逛的小九 (14 Jul 2025) found many people waiting at the top at 17:30 in 35 °C heat and saw someone suffer heatstroke; 独善其身 (13 Jul 2025) watched from the fifth floor at 19:20._ (5 travelers) source
• Take the lift up; the queue is for going up, not down. Inside, there are lifts as well as stairs, so the climb is easy. Take the lift straight to the top floor for views of Three Pools Mirroring the Moon and the Su and Bai causeways. The queue is for going up, not down. Caveat: karenvW3425DS found two large lifts moved the queue quickly on a public holiday, with about 20 minutes from the ticket queue to being inside. That 20-minute figure is from one holiday visit; weekdays are likely shorter. cindy (5 Oct 2025, National Day) queued at least half an hour for the lift and found the stairs crowded too, so allow time at peak hours. (3 travelers) source
• See the excavated ruins at ground level first. The new pagoda was built over the whole site of the original, and a glass cover over the ruins lets you look straight at them from the ground floor. Archaeological finds are shown around the base. Caveat: The display is at the base of the pagoda inside the ticketed area. (2 travelers) source
• Look for the White Snake wood carvings on the floors. Each floor carries displays, including wood carvings that tell the legend of the White Snake, Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen. The five floors also hold other cultural relics, sculptures and murals. Caveat: The English page does not say which floor holds which display. source
• The pagoda is a 2002 rebuild; the draw is the ruins and the view. The original tower collapsed in 1924, and the current pagoda, completed in October 2002, stands over its excavated ruins, with a glass roof protecting the site. Expect a modern steel-framed building clad in traditional style rather than an old structure; the visit is about the ruins on the ground floor and the lake view from the top. Caveat: This is background from the operator and the West Lake management committee, not a visitor judgement. source
• Watch it lit up from across the lake, no ticket needed. Leifeng Pagoda is lit every night, and the dusk and night views from the shoreline are free. Changqiao Park (长桥公园) on the south-east shore, reached by walking south along Nanshan Road from Longxiangqiao, is a wide-open spot with far fewer visitors than Broken Bridge. Caveat: The lighting schedule in the Hangzhou Net report dates from 2023 and the city can change evening lighting by season. source
• No metro at the gate: shuttles, city buses, the weekend 520 and bus 1314. From September to November the city runs shuttle buses from 12 metro stations around the lake. For Leifeng Pagoda the routing from Hangzhou East Railway Station is Line 1 to Longxiangqiao and a shuttle, and from the airport it is Line 7 to Wushan Square and a shuttle. City buses stop near Jingci Temple (净寺) across the road, including K4 and 1314 to Jingsi or Leifeng Pagoda station. On Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays the 520 route runs as a sightseeing double-decker for ¥5, paid by Alipay or WeChat bus code only. It starts at Wulin Square West and passes Hubin and Shengli Theatre, Qingbomen and Jingsi (the pagoda stop) before the Su Causeway and the zoo. On weekdays the same number is an ordinary ¥2 bus. Bus 1314 runs between Lingyin and the south end of the lake. From the Lingyin East stop it is four stops to Sudi South Gate for ¥2, then about 500 m on foot (7 minutes) to the pagoda entrance; the same bus brings you back from the pagoda side towards the lake. Caveat: Bus numbers differ between sources (4 or K4); check the bus sign at the stop. Mitchell (27 Apr 2026) describes the ¥2 West Lake inner-ring bus from Liugongyuan with a bus about every 8 to 10 minutes and a loop of about an hour; 迪迦女孩 and 京A曹孟德 give buses 4, 315 and 52 to Jingsi. 三木六又 (23 Jun 2026) gives the timetable: first bus 09:00 from Wulin Square West, last 16:00, about every 40 minutes, and paper senior cards are not accepted. 探险小丸籽 (9 Jul 2026) describes the same weekend line to Qianwang Shrine, Leifeng Pagoda and Su Causeway. 皮不卡喵喵碎唠唠 (14 Jun 2025) describes the stops and the 500 m walk; its ticket prices for Feilai Peak and Lingyin are out of date because Lingyin is now free. 迪迦女孩 (29 Apr 2026) says 1314 takes you back near the lake from the pagoda. (7 travelers) source
• Pair it with the Jingci Temple side and the south end of the lake. The pagoda sits on Xizhao Hill (夕照山) facing Jingci Temple (净慈寺), directly across Nanshan Road. The shoreline, Su Causeway’s south end and Changqiao Park are a short walk away, so the pagoda fits easily into a south-shore afternoon. Caveat: Walking times are not published. source
• Storms can close the pagoda. In bad weather the operator closes the site: its news page carried a temporary closure notice and then a reopening notice within three days in August 2026, while the West Lake area was shut for a typhoon. Check the weather and the operator’s news before a special trip on a stormy day. Caveat: The notices are images on the operator’s site; the closure reason comes from the city report. source
• Spring Festival is a busy week at Leifeng Pagoda. During the Spring Festival the crowds concentrate at Broken Bridge, Su Causeway and Leifeng Pagoda, so go early if your visit falls in the holiday week. _Caveat: June_inChina’s Spring Festival trip found the crowds concentrated at Broken Bridge, Su Causeway and Leifeng Pagoda. A repeat visitor to China told first-timers the pagoda is not necessary, saying it has been modernised and feels like a standard tourist stop. That is an opinion about whether to go, not a timed visit._ (2 travelers) source
• A dusk loop by inner-ring bus: Qianwang Shrine, Jingci Temple, then the pagoda. For a dusk loop, take metro line 1 to Longxiangqiao (exit C), find the inner West Lake ring bus at the stop about 20 m to the left of Hubin Square, and get off first at the Qianwang Shrine (¥15) and then at Jingsi. Jingci Temple (¥10) opposite stops selling tickets at 16:30 and the pagoda lights up at 18:00. The evening bus 196 from the second stop on the left leaves at 19:00 at the latest towards the Southern Song palace site and the night market. Caveat: 森柏 (15 May 2026) is a single planning post, and the temple ticket prices and bus times are theirs; check the schedule at the stop. The pagoda ticket price and hours are in the operator’s own pages. The route and times are one visitor's plan (森柏, 15 May 2026). source

Sources

• 杭州雷峰塔文化旅游发展有限公司
• 杭州雷峰塔文化旅游发展有限公司
• Leifeng Tower Culture and Tourism Development Co., Ltd.
• 杭州雷峰塔文化旅游发展有限公司
• Leifeng Tower Culture and Tourism Development Co., Ltd.
• 杭州雷峰塔文化旅游发展有限公司
• 杭州西湖风景名胜区管理委员会 (published 2024-03-04)
• 杭州网 (published 2026-09-07)
• 杭州政协网（转杭州网） (published 2026-09-08)
• 杭州政协网 (published 2026-08-10)
• 杭州网 (published 2023-09-20)
• 杭州本地宝
• 杭州本地宝 (published 2026-08-17)
• karenvW3425DS (published 2026-01-25)
• gotravelling (published 2026-09-29)
• gotravelling (published 2026-10-01)
• NooraMäkelä (published 2026-03-30)
• Donovan_l (published 2026-05-28)
• June_inChina (published 2026-02-23)
• Historical-Pound-314 (published 2026-08-19)
• 三木六又 (published 2026-06-23)
• 探险小丸籽🍒 (published 2026-07-09)
• 皮不卡喵喵碎唠唠 (published 2025-06-14)
• 迪迦女孩 (published 2026-04-29)
• 森柏🌲 (published 2026-05-15)
• cindy (published 2025-10-05)
• 独善其身 (published 2025-07-13)
• 随便逛的小九 (published 2025-07-14)
• Mitchell (published 2026-04-27)
• 京A曹孟德 (published 2025-10-08)

More places

• Pair with: West Lake, Hefang Street
• More in Around West Lake: West Lake, Zhejiang Provincial Museum