T144, West Lake in Hangzhou《杭州西湖》

Stamp Title: West Lake in Hangzhou
Serial number: T144
Values in set: 4
Date of issue: November 25, 1989
Denomination: 88 fen
Designers: Liu Xiangping
Size of stamps: 60*30mm
Perforation: 11
Sheet composition: 30(3*10)
Printing process: Photogravures
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

Located in the South of the Yangtze Delta, west to the Hangzhou Bay, south to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and to the lower reaches of Qiantang River, Hangzhou is an important central city of the Yangtze Delta and is the transportation hinge in the southeast China. The geographical coordinate of the city center is between the north latitude of 30 16′ and east longitude of 120 12′. Belonging to the subtropical monsoon climate with mild and moist weather and four distinct seasons, Hangzhou is a city with plenty of sunshine and rainfall. The average yearly temperature is 16.2¡æ, with the average summer temperature being 28.6¡æ, and the average winter temperature being 3.8¡æ. There are 230-260 days of non-frost period. The average yearly rainfall is 1435 millimeters, and the average relative humidity is 76%. Situated at the center of Hangzhou, West Lake is 3.3 kilometers in length from north to south and 2.8 kilometers in width from east to west, with an original water coverage of 5.66 square kilometers. Lately, it has expanded to 6.5 square kilometers due to the “West Lake Westward” project, thus has generally equaled to the water area 300 years ago. After the connecting of West Lake and Qiantang River, each day about 300,000 cubic meters water was led to West Lake from the Qiantang River, renewing the water monthly, while it was previously renewed yearly. In addition, the transparency has been increased from 60 centimeters to 120 centimeters.

T144 杭州西湖
（1） 8分 苏堤春晓 2348.15万枚
（2）10分 曲院风荷 2160.15万枚
（3）30分 三潭印月 2182.65万枚
（4）40分 断桥残雪 2049.15万枚
发行日期：1989.11.25。影写版。P11×11.5。60mm×30mm。30（3×10）。设计：刘向平。印刷：北京邮票厂。
T144M 杭州西湖（小型张）
5元，杭州西湖，1020万枚。
发行日期：1989.11.25。影写版。P11.5×11。[G]。
小型张规格：145mm×60mm。邮票规格：90mm×40mm。
设计：杨明义。印刷：北京邮票厂。

西湖，位于浙江省杭州市西。旧称武林水、金牛湖、明圣湖、钱塘湖，唐代始称“西湖”，宋时又叫“西子湖”。西湖三面环山，一面临城，景区面积达49平方公里。

唐代时开始出现“西湖”这一名称。自宋代文豪苏轼写下“欲把西湖比西子，淡汝浓抹总相宜”的诗句后，西湖又被叫做西子湖。湖体轮廓似椭圆形，湖中有孤山、小瀛洲、湖心亭、阮公墩四岛，湖面的白、苏二堤将西湖分成外湖、里湖、岳湖、西里湖、小南湖五个部分。西湖三面环山，一面临城，有“苏堤春晓”等风景名胜40余处，重点文物古迹30余处。

在西湖景区众多的风景名胜中，“西湖十景”享有盛誉。这一名称始于南宋画院画家马远、陈清波的西湖画卷题名。它们是：苏堤春晓、平湖秋月、花港观鱼、柳浪闻莺、两峰插云、三潭印月、雷峰夕照、南屏晚钟、釉院风荷、断桥残雪。后来，清朝康熙皇帝南巡游览西湖，亲自为西湖十景题名，并刻建石碑，把两峰插云改为双峰插云，釉院风荷改为曲院风荷，西湖十景题名一直沿用至今。