West Lake
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West Lake (Template:Zh-cp) is a famous place of interest located in the middle of the downtown of Hangzhou, in China.
The lake is divided by three causeways called su di (苏堤) , bai di (白堤), and yanggong di
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History
In middle of Tang dynasty Zhenyuan era(785-804), poet Bai Juyi白居易 came to Hangzhou as governor. He was already an acomplised poet, his deeds at Hangzhou made him a great governor. He found out that the farmland nearby depended on the water of West Lake, but due to negligence of former governors, the old dyke collapsed, the water level of West Lake dried out, and the local farmers suffered severe drought. He order the construction of a stronger and taller dyke, with dam to control the flow of water, and solved the drought problem. The livelihood of local people of Hangzhou got better by years. Now Bai Juji had more leisure time to enjoy the beauty of West Lake. he visited West Lake almost everyday. He ordered the construction of a causeway connect the Broken Bridge with the Solitary Hill, to faciliate walking on foot, instead of depending on boat. Then he planted peach trees and willows trees along the dyke, made it a beauty full landmark of West Lake. The Bai Di Causeway was named after Bai Juyi.
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More than two hudred years passed. In the beginning of Song dynasty Yuanyiu era (1084-93) anther great poet came to Hangzhou. He was the great Song poet Su Shi蘇軾 (Su Dongpo). He came to Hangzhou as governor. By that time, the farmers suffered drought again, due to overgrowth of the weeds at the bottom of the lake clogging the irrigation ducts. He ordered dredging of the lake and piled up all the mud into another causeway, in the style of Bai Causeway, but much wider and nearly three times as long, he also planted willow trees along its banks. This causeway was later named after him as the Su Causeway. There are six bridges along the 2.6 km Su Causeway. "Spring Dawn on the Su Causeway" is one of the attractions at the West Lake.
Ten Major Attractions
The Ten major attractions of West Lake are:
- Spring Dawn on the Su Causeway 苏堤春晓
- Listining Orioles Singing in the Willows 柳浪闻莺
- View Fish in the Flower Harbour 花港观鱼
- Lotus in the Breeze at the Winding Courtyard
- Evening Bells at the Nanping Mountain 南屏晚钟
- Autumn Moon over a Calm Lake 平湖秋月
- Evening Sunshine over Leifeng Pagoda 雷峰夕照
- Three Pools Mirroring the Moon 三潭印月
- Melting Snow on Broken Bridge 断桥残雪
- Twin Peaks Piercing the Clouds 双峰插云-- The JungFrau of Westlake.
Other Attractions
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Other attractions include
- Yue Fei Temple
- Lin Yin Temple
- Tasting Tea at the Dragon Well
- Galloping Tiger Spring
- Su Xiao Xiao tomb
- Wu Song tomb
- Longjin tea farms
West Lake in Culture
The West Lake is the incarnation of Xi Shi西施, one of the most beautiful woman in ancient China. Hence, since ancient times, the West Lake was associated with a large number of romatic poets, profound philosophers, national heros and heroins.
- Jin Dynasty philosopher Ge Hong葛洪 practiced Taoism in the Ge Mountain, and wrote his great philosophical work : Bao Pu Zhi 抱朴子.
- Tang dynasty poet Luo Bingwang reclused in Lin Yin Temple
- Tang dynasty poet-governor Bai Juyi, , built the first causeway, which the Bai Causeway.
- Song dynasty poet-governor Su Dongpo, dredged the lake and built up the Su Causeway, made it into another beautiful landmark of West Lake. He also invented a special recipe for preparing pork: the Dongpo Pork. Dongpo Pork is on the menu of every restaurant in Hangzhou
- Song dynasty national hero Yu Fei buried near the West Lake
- The greatest Ming dynasty essayist Zhang Dai 张岱 , wrote a number great essays about the West Lake in
Reminiscence and Dream of Tao'an 陶庵梦忆, and a whole book: Search for West Lake in Dreams 西湖梦寻.
The West Lake has been famous for its exquisite beauty for more than one thousand years. Hangzhou will be the site for The 2006 WORLD LEISURE EXPO
External link
- Dreams at the West Lake, by Yu Qiuyu (http://weekly.china-forum.org/CCF96/ccf9609/ccf9609-1.html)zh:西湖