Travel guide to Hangzhou, a paradise on earth

5 The Xixi wetland park

Xixi, located less than five kilometers from West Lake in the west of Hangzhou, is China's first national wetland park. The area covers about 10 square kilometers and it has been around for more than 1,500 years, although it was only recently revived to offer residents and visitors a green respite from the concrete of the city.

Despite its increasing popularity, the wetland's winding waterways, lush greenery and rich biodiversity guarantee serene spots amid nature.

Wetlands themselves are one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems, acting as natural green lungs, water purification systems and flood control. But environmental degradation is threatening them worldwide.

More than 20,000 hectares of wetland in the country have disappeared every year on average in the past decade, the China Institute for Marine Affairs warns.

More than half of the country's inter-tidal wetland has also vanished, while the wetlands of the Yellow and East China seas have lost up to 90 percent of their natural function, the institute reports.

That makes the 226 plant species, 50 kinds of fish and aquatic animals as well as 126 kinds of birds in Xixi even more valuable.

Xixi's native vegetation consists of subtropical mountainous swamp and evergreen and deciduous, broad-leafed forest, watered by six crisscrossing rivers that also flow into the ponds, lakes and swamps.