In China, a Moon Dance By Gary Lee Sunday, August 2, 1998; Page E02

The trip had been a veritable pilgrimage: 15 hours by plane to Hong Kong and two more to Shanghai, followed by a two-hour train ride to the mountain city of Hangzhou and finally, a bumpy ride in a red taxi to the outskirts. It ended where I now stood on the shores of the Xihu, or West Lake.

"Head over the bridge called Crossing the Rainbows," my friend had advised. "When you reach the end, hop a boat to the island named Three Pools Mirroring the Moon. Find a place to sit and observe."

Eager to escape the bustle of Shanghai, I arrived at Hangzhou on the first train at daybreak. After settling into the Shangri-La, a resort hotel overlooking the lake, I witnessed my first Hangzhou wonder: Amid the willows at the water's edge were dozens of locals, alone or in clusters, calmly performing the most elegant tai chi I had ever seen.

From there came other wonders. In the Eye of Heaven Mountains, a mint-colored range circling the lake, Chinese Buddhists have over 15 centuries constructed the nation's most impressive array of places of worship, all within a half-hour's drive from the lake. Hiring a taxi, I visited as many as I could manage in a day.

The Temple of Inspired Seclusion, built in the 4th century with a traditional Chinese facade and a gilded Buddha inside, was surrounded by cliffs covered by religious symbols carved between the 10th and 14th centuries.

The Yellow Dragon Cave was a gargantuan hole cleaved out of the side of a hill. I paused over the main draw, a stream gushing water into the mouth of a dragon. In a park nearby, I caught a performance of Yue opera, a provincial art form produced every afternoon by locals.

The Running Tiger Dream Spring was built on a dream, or so the story goes. A monk had stopped at the spot and decided to build a temple, but despaired when he realized there was no stream there. When he fell asleep he dreamed that two tigers had come and split open the earth beside him. Upon awakening, he saw a fresh stream where the tigers had played. The temple is small and simple, with three Buddhas inside. I dipped my hand in the water and imagined the tigers, somewhere overhead, laughing.

After only a day, it was easy to see why Hangzhou has become so cherished among the Chinese. Emperors sought repose here for more than 1,000 years. Marco Polo stopped here in the late 13th century, called it Kinsai, and declared it the very source of the fountain of beauty. More recently, the lake and surrounding attractions have become favorites for couples seeking a romantic interlude.

Beyond the religious monuments, there are many secular attractions. After lunch I stopped at the Dragon Well Tea Park, a cluster of wooden tea houses surrounded by evergreens. Moving from one merchant to the next, I spent an hour sampling Long Jing tea, a strong brew with an overwhelming aroma and medicinal qualities grown in the fields surrounding Hangzhou. Chinese come from hundreds of miles for it. I bought two boxes for $15 each.

The cafes and restaurants, offering the gamut from Cantonese to Szechuanese and Hunanese, are themselves worth a trip. A soup of West Lake fish and five zesty spices silenced my summer sniffles. But what I remember best was beggar's chicken, a dish invented in the region in which the hen is covered with Chinese herbs wrapped in parchment and baked in a clay pot. With a plate of sauteed broccoli and another of fried rice, it cost me just $12 at Louwailou, a restaurant with a stunning view of the lake.

Dinner put me in the mood for the display of nature I had been awaiting. From the restaurant, I finished my sojourn by cab and boat. Three Pools Mirroring the Moon is an island surrounded by water and covered with trees and pagodas. From the shore I stood staring, first at a row of blue lanterns lighting a pathway, then at the mountains gazing back like friendly giants, and finally at the still waters before me.

And there it was, as bright as a shooting star, as white as a baby's eye, reflecting from high above, shimmering across the sheet of blue satin. As I breathed in the sight, I felt the rush that comes when a traveler arrives at a place and realizes that he can sit, motionless and in awe, with no desire to climb another mountain or even take another step, for a very long time.

Hangzhou, China, is reachable by a two-hour train ride ($14) from Shanghai. Dragon Air has daily flights from Hong Kong. Rooms at the Shangri-La run about $100 for a double. Information: 1-800-942-5050.