Tiaoxi Greenway Dike-Crest Walk (Xixian Dike)
瓶窑码头 (Wharf Park, east of 梦溪大桥) 杭州市余杭区瓶窑镇 瓶窑码头 → 乌龙涧 (水文化公园, 463 bus stop and car park) 杭州市余杭区余杭街道 乌龙涧
Plan Your Route
Quick Facts
| Start | 瓶窑码头 (Wharf Park, east of 梦溪大桥) 杭州市余杭区瓶窑镇 瓶窑码头 |
| Finish | 乌龙涧 (水文化公园, 463 bus stop and car park) 杭州市余杭区余杭街道 乌龙涧 |
| Area | Tiaoxi |
| Transport | Metro line 2 to 良渚站, then a free weekend-and-holiday tourist bus to 瓶窑老街 and 799 m to the wharf; or metro line 16 to 禹航路站 at the south end and the 463 north along the dyke. There is no metro in 瓶窑 and no signposted route anywhere on the crest. |
| Crowd level | Nearly empty on a weekday and full of bicycles from May to October. The crowd is local: families and office walkers from 未来科技城, 1,000-plus a day at the rail park since it opened, 800 at a single mass walk. There is no foreign-language signage anywhere on the line. |
When to go
November to March is the honest window: the flood season is over and the crest is yours. Zhejiang's 汛期 runs 15 April to 15 October, and through it this surface is a working flood defence before it is a promenade. Spring brings the district's flower plantings; summer is heat on open ground with no shade line and a crosswind that never stops.
Route Summary
The object you are walking on
West of Hangzhou, the 东苕溪 comes off the 天目山 carrying more than 1,200 square kilometres of hillside rain towards the plain, and for two thousand years the thing standing between that water and the cities at the bottom has been an embankment. It is called 西险大塘, roughly the great western dangerous dyke: about 44.6 km from 石门桥 to 德清大闸, 38.7 km of it inside 余杭, first recorded under the 余杭 magistrate 陈浑 in 173 AD. It has been raised, sealed, breached and repaired ever since, fourteen recorded collapses between 1403 and 1882, a 1996 flood that washed one section down to forty centimetres, and a reinforcement programme finished in June 2025 that moved the standard from a hundred-year flood to a two-hundred-year one.
This page is about the 15.5 km of its crest you can now walk, 瓶窑码头 to 乌龙涧: the section the water authority names, the one it equipped, the one Hangzhou’s cycling web knows as 苕溪绿道. No authority has published a walkable length for it. The figure here is measured, 15,499 m of greenway polyline recomputed on 16 October 2026 and archived with this page, while the district offers 38, 44, 50, 19 and 9 km for five overlapping things, which read as project boundaries and dyke kilometres rather than walks.
Two facts are worth holding before you set out. The crest is one surface shared by bicycles, joggers and walkers, not a footpath with a cycle path beside it. And the difficulty is not terrain: it is 15.5 km with no shade, no water, no shop and no exit between 5.1 km and 11.9 km, with a river on one side that this road is the only thing holding back.
What you get is a way to read an engineering object from the inside, normally impossible at this scale. The camphor at 宋家头 has stood on this bank since the 1450s. The marsh at 北湖草荡 is ground the district decided the river may have, and in August 2026 it did: six gates open, 7.69 m at 瓶窑站, the highest since 1999, and the reinforced crest held. A creek named for the flowering reed that falls on the water in autumn, a dyke named for being west of the city and dangerous, and fifteen and a half kilometres of the top of it.
Step-by-Step Route
瓶窑码头, and the five kilometres nobody photographs
1 h 25 min, 5.2 kmStart at the wharf park east of 梦溪大桥, where the district says its cultural belt begins and where one of the two confirmed toilets sits. The first five kilometres have the least to look at and the most to think about: the newest part of the works, wide, straight, freshly sealed, the river falling away behind a grass toe on your left, farmland and new blocks on your right. The district measured its mass walk over this stretch, which tells you what it is: the section where you can put 800 people without touching a gate. Walk it slowly, because you will want the credit later. The north half is the boring part and everyone who does it says so, but it is also the only part where you can see what the object is, with nothing between you and the water.
Caution: Cyclists come up behind you here at speed, on the same surface, with no separate lane. Stand right, and check before you step out to look at the river.
The camphor, the temple, and what is on the left
35 min, 1.0 kmAt 5.2 km, 宋家头 gives you the one living thing on this line worth a stop: a camphor of 570-odd years, planted in the Jingtai reign between 1450 and 1457, so big that the bus stop 26 m away is what people call it. The March 2026 mass walk finished here; a 573-year figure also circulates and is not the newspaper's number. Just off it stands 古柏樹廟, one of only three of the eight planned stations ever named, with no opening notice or photograph, so not a facility you can plan on. From here the ground on your left stops being a field and becomes 北湖草荡, flood storage marsh, 195 m off at its closest: something you look at rather than walk to.
Photo suggestion: The tree reads best from the crest looking back along its crown; from underneath you get foliage and a bus shelter.
The long middle, where the walk is tested
1 h 50 min, 5.7 kmBetween 6.1 km and 11.9 km there is nothing in this walk, and that section decides whether you like it. The crest runs straight, the river runs with it, the wind has nowhere to be broken, and shade is zero for the whole distance. Villages sit back from the bank on both sides and none touches the line: 下陡门, with its reed flats and famous village coffee shop, is 1.7 km west, and 永安村, home of the district's rice brand, is 1 km away. You will see bicycles, kites and someone walking a dog, and you will hear the 留石高架 long before you reach it. Treat 11.9 km as the point the walk was designed around, and accept that the flatness is the subject.
Caution: No water, no shelter and no shop in these 5.7 km. In the flood season, 15 April to 15 October, the same surface is a patrol road and can be closed to visitors by people who are permitted to be on it.
九莲池, and the decision at two-thirds
20 min, 0.7 kmThe 驿站 at 11.9 km is the mid-point of everything practical here: the second of the two confirmed toilets, open since 2026-03-23, and a bus stop 49 m away, which together make it the only place between the ends where you can either refresh or leave. This is where the walk stops being a nice idea and becomes arithmetic. Two thirds of the distance is behind you and the remaining 3.6 km are flat and quick, so most people continue. If you are tired, hot or out of water, turning back here costs nothing but those 3.6 km, and it is the one place a taxi can find you by name.
Photo suggestion: The station yard is the only spot on the line with walls, shade and people in it, which makes it the honest photograph of this walk.
The rail park, the tower and 乌龙涧
1 h 30 min, 3.6 kmThe last three and a half kilometres are where the corridor has stuff in it. 溪塔村嗨3公园 at 12.5 km sits under the 留石高架, a bridge-under-space rebuilt as a sports park, open since May 2026: a park rather than a dike feature. At 13.6 km the 宣杭 line arrives, the old railway begun in 1922 and closed in 2020, opened free at the end of 2025 with a restored train that runs 2.2 km west across the first railway bridge over 苕溪, at 土桥湾; that bridge is not a crossing for this walk. Then 舒公塔 at 15.0 km, provincial-protected since 2011, a brick tower you cannot climb because its ladder was destroyed. Below it the named greenway stops: 乌龙涧 is the southern end the water authority gives, with a bus stop on the crest and a car park 131 m away.
Caution: The rail park is where the crowds are, over 1,000 visits a day since it opened, with children, scooters and the restored train moving on its own line.
Getting There & Back
From Hangzhou to the north end, without a car
BestTake metro line 2 north to 良渚站, the closest rail head: 瓶窑 has no metro. Since 1 January 2025 the district has run two free tourist buses at weekends and on holidays, one linking 良渚地铁站 through the south side of the 良渚古城遗址公园 to 瓶窑老街, working the 老街 between 11:00 and 20:00. From there the wharf park is 799 m along the road. On a weekday the shuttle does not run and the answer is a taxi, which is why the south end is often the easier start.
Bus 463, which runs on the dyke itself
Route 463 starts at 余杭东门头 by the south end and runs along 西险大塘, the embankment road, as the district paper put it when the service came back on 2026-07-18 after being suspended in June 2023 for the works. Its stops are this walk's exits: 宋家头站 26 m from the camphor, 九莲池站 49 m from the station toilet at 11.9 km, 土桥湾站 34 m from the line at 13.8 km, 乌龙涧 at the finish. No published timetable can be relied on, so treat this bus as the weak point of the plan.
Metro line 16, and the south end
Line 16 runs 绿汀路 to 九州街 across Yuhang and stops at 禹航路 and 南湖, both on the old 余杭 town side. 禹航路站 has two exits, works roughly 06:23 to 23:06 and takes buses 469, 471, 479, 356, 381, 475 and 506, the interchange that makes a car-free day possible. It is still 804 m from the crest at 乌龙涧 and 339 m from 余杭东门头总站, where 463 begins, so the last leg is a road walk.
By car, and the two carparks that are documented
A point-to-point walk is the transport problem of this route: one car will not get you back. 乌龙涧停车场 lies 131 m from the finish, and the district paper's own recommendation is to leave the car at 土桥湾停车场, 34 m from the crest at 13.8 km, and ride 463 along the dyke, which turns a 15.5 km one-way into a section you choose.
Return leg: getting back from 乌龙涧
ReturnThe south end is the easier exit: 463 runs from here toward 余杭东门头 and the metro at 禹航路, and the car park is 131 m from the last marker. If the bus has gone, a booked ride-hail is the realistic answer, and on a summer weekend a slow one, because the empty cars are out with the cyclists. The shared bikes are no answer at all: they are rented and returned inside a zone covering the crest only.
Practical Notes
One distance, one climb
15.5 km, flat, both from the greenway line measured on 16 October 2026: 15,499 m over 383 points, drawn at 145 points and 15,462 m. The district's 38 km is a rounding of the 38.7 km of dyke inside 余杭, not a route.
There is one crest, not a path beside it
The description of a separate cycle path and separate footpath does not survive the water authority's own phrasing, three uses carried on one body, or the riders' accounts on the ground. Bicycles arrive from behind on the surface you occupy. That is the most important sentence on this page.
Bail out at these five points
The exits are the bus stops, by distance: 瓶窑码头 at 0 km, 宋家头站 at 5.1 km, 九莲池站 at 11.9 km, 土桥湾站 at 13.8 km and 乌龙涧 at 15.5 km, each within 49 m of the drawn line. There is no exit between 5.1 and 11.9 km, and no gate, stair or footbridge on the crest is documented.
Bikes are on the dyke and cannot take you off it
The 200 shared bicycles are a commercial fleet limited to the crest: rent and return inside the zone across 25 docks, a bike left unlocked locks itself after an hour, deposit waived against Sesame credit. Use one to shorten the walk, not to reach a metro station.
No ticket, no booking, no signposting
The crest is a flood-control road opened to walkers, not a managed scenic site: no gate line, no ticket, no reservation and no daily cap in any source checked, and no interpretation board that helps a visitor who cannot read Chinese. Carry the route on a screen.
Names on the map that are not on this line
洪桐's locomotive park is 1.9 km west, 下陡门's tree 1.7 km, 永安村 1 km, 瓶窑老街 150 m but off the crest, and 上牵埠, one of the three named stations, 9.4 km away in another part of the district. Listed so a reader with a car can find them.
Start north if the shuttle runs, south if it does not
Beginning at 瓶窑码头 puts the emptiest five kilometres behind you while you are fresh and ends beside a car park and the bus to the metro, but costs the shuttle's 11:00 to 20:00 window. On a weekday, start at 乌龙涧 by metro 16 and the 463.
The crest is exposed in every direction
No shade line, no windbreak, nothing to buy for 15.5 km. Sun cover, a full bottle before 6 km and food in a day pack are the whole kit. A plain crosswind makes January feel twice as long as October, and nothing says the crest is lit.
Safety Notes
- This is a working flood defence, not a park. Zhejiang's flood season runs 15 April to 15 October; the regulation bars vehicles from the crest and bars people who are not on duty from the embankment during flood combat, and a patrol of one person every hundred metres was in place until 18 August 2026.
- In the 2026 season the river reached 7.69 m at 瓶窑站 against a 6.66 m guarantee level, the flood storage at 北湖 took water through six open gates on 10 August, and the reinforced line held. If the water is high, this walk is closed to you whatever the map says.
- Bicycles, including the 200-bike tourist fleet, use the same surface as walkers at cycling speed, with no physical separation. Keep left when you are stopping, never sit in the middle of the crest, and leave the noise cancelling at home.
- 北湖草荡 beside the line is flood storage ground: its water level is a management decision rather than a weather result. The crest does carry a metal guardrail on the water side in the stretch photographed for this page, but nothing documents one where the ground falls away toward the storage marsh, so treat the open side as unprotected.
- The bank at the toe of the dyke is steep and the channel drains a catchment of more than 1,200 km². There is no swimming here and no lifeguard, and no source lists life-saving equipment along the crest.
- There is no evidence of lighting anywhere on this route: outdoor lighting sits in the design scope of the environmental works and appears in nothing published since. An evening walk on 15.5 km of exposed crest is not a plan.
- Mobile coverage along the middle sections has not been established, and there is no exit between 5.1 km and 11.9 km. Tell someone which end you started from.
- The line is not signed for walkers and no source describes waymarkers; the map here is measured from routing data rather than from a signed path, so keep it available offline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Short answers to common planning questions about transport, Chinese place names, timing, and safety for this route.
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This is a cycling greenway. Why is there a walking page for it?
Because the crest is one surface carrying three uses, and walking is the only way to read the object at its own scale. A cyclist crosses 15.5 km in an hour and sees a bank; on foot you are on the crown of a work rebuilt continuously since 173 AD. The cycling identity is real, and it is why walkers need instructions about standing right. -
Is 15.5 km of flat walking too much for me?
Flat and long is a different problem from short and steep, and people who are fine on hills get surprised. Nothing breaks the wind and nothing shades the surface. The engine has 3 h 23 min of moving at 4.5 km/h; plan five hours if you stop at the tree and the tower. New to 15 km? Do the 5.1 km to 宋家头 and bus back. -
Which end should I start from?
Both ends are on the same bus, so the choice is about energy and light. Starting north at 瓶窑码头 puts the emptiest five kilometres behind you while you are fresh and ends beside a car park and the 463 toward the metro. Starting south means the flat half lands after that shuttle stops working. -
How real is the risk from bicycles?
It is the main everyday hazard, and the one no warning tells a visitor about. The water authority's own description is cycling, jogging and walking carried on one body, so a bike arrives from behind on the surface you occupy, at speed, steering around you. On summer weekends riders are the majority of traffic on the crest. -
Where do I get water, and what about toilets?
Buy water before you start: there is no fountain, kiosk or shop for 5.7 km between 宋家头 and 九莲池. Toilets are documented in two places only, 瓶窑码头 at 0 km and 九莲池 at 11.9 km, both opened 2026-03-23 and named by the district. 乌龙涧 has a car park and a bus stop, not facilities. -
Does the dyke stop being a promenade in the flood season?
Yes, and that is the right way to understand what you are standing on. From 15 April to 15 October the surface is a patrol road before it is a promenade: the regulation bars vehicles from the crest, and anyone without a duty from the embankment, while flood combat is on. In those months the water decides, not the map. -
Can I cut the walk short halfway?
At exactly one place. 九莲池 at 11.9 km has a confirmed toilet and a 463 stop 49 m from the crest, the only mid-line exit with both. The others are 宋家头站 at 5.1 km, 土桥湾站 at 13.8 km and the finish, so between 5.1 and 11.9 km you keep walking. -
Can I rent a bike and ride back?
Not to Hangzhou and not to a metro station. The 200 哈啰 bikes are limited to the zone covering the embankment: rent inside it, return at one of 25 docks inside it, and an unlocked bike locks itself after an hour, deposit waived against Sesame credit. A bike shortens the walk; it does not end it. -
What is genuinely worth stopping for, and what should I not expect?
The camphor at 5.2 km, 570-odd years old, is the best single thing on the line; the flood marsh on your left is worth an hour of naming birds; the rail park at 13.6 km is where the district has put its crowd. Two things do not deliver: 舒公塔 cannot be climbed, and the rail bridge is not a crossing. -
How do the district's numbers relate to what I walked?
None of them is this walk. 38.7 km is how much 西险大塘 lies inside 余杭; 44 km is the belt's planning corridor; 50 km is the district's connected waterfront including a 10 km branch; 19 km is the old rail axis; and the 9 km here is a boundary our routing measures as 5.5 or 5.9 km.
Nearby Routes
Other trails starting from the same area, worth combining or visiting on another day.
Liangzhu Ancient City
The World Heritage property on the same water, a metro line and a short bus ride south-east of here, and the pairing most visitors can actually make in a day: 5,000-year-old dams before you walk the 173 AD one.
Jingshan Huanzhe Trail, Zero Mile Loop
Same district, opposite character: a marked trail-running circuit in the hills above the plain, for anyone who read the word flat in the headline and wants the other thing.
Qingshan Classic Loop
10.6 km and 764 m of climbing on the 环浙步道 above 青山村, a 34.6 km drive from 杭州西站. The honest counterweight to a walk whose only difficulty is length.
Maling Ancient Path, Tonglu
Another measured point-to-point through water country, 10.7 km down a creek valley on cobble, with the same problem solved differently: a valley bus that runs twice a day.
Zhongtai Tea Ridge Walk
The tea half of the same southern townships: a 260 m ridge above 双联 and 枫岭 with a paved lane to its top, listed beside this dyke in the district's own 风情带 roster and a drive away from its crest. Low, made-surface walking, and the only line in this corpus you can drive to the summit of.