|  West Lake is a famous fresh water lake located in central Hangzhou,in zhejiang province of eastern China.The lake is divided by three causeways called Su Causeway,Bai Causeway,and Yanggong Causeway.
The name "West Lake "(Xi Hu)is also used by a large number of lakes in China and surrounding countries(with 800 West lakes in China according to Lonely Planet).However,the lake in Hangzhou is the most famous of these,and the terms"West Lake"and "XiHu"generally refers to this lake .
History
One of the major attracions in West Lake:Three Pools Mirroring the Moon island In middle of the Tang Dynasty Zhenyuan era(785-804),poet Bai juyi came to Hangzhou as governor.Already an accomplished poet,his deeds at Hangzhou made him a great governor.He realised that hte farmland nearby depended on the water of West Lake,but due to negligence of former governors,the old d yke had collapsed,the water level of West Lake dried out,and the local farmers suffered severe drought.He ordered the construction of a stronger and taller dy ke,with a dam to control the flow of water,and thus solved the drought problem.The livelihood of local people of Hangzhou improve over the following years.Now that Bai juyi had more leisure time to enjoy the beauty of West Lake,he visited West lake almost everyday.He ordered with the Solitary Hill,to facilitate walking on foot,instead of depending on boat.Then he planted peach trees and willows trees along the dyk e,making it a beautiful landmark of West Lake.This causeway was later name Bai Causeway in Bai juyi's honour.
Over two hundred years later,in the beginning of Song Dynasty's Yuanyou era(1086-1094),another great poet,Su Shi(Su Dongpo),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 Dy ke.There are six bridges along the 2.6km Su Dy ke."Spring Dawn on the Su D yke "is one of the attractions at the West Lake.
Ten Scenes of West Lake
View of the West Lake from a row boat .The ten Scenes of West Lake,each marked by a stela with the name written in calligraphy of the Emperor Qianlong Emperor,are:
Spring Dawn on the Su Dy ke
Orioles Singing in the Willows
Viewing Fish at Flower Pond
Winery Yard and Lotus Pool
Evening Bell Ringing at the Nanping Hill
Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake
Leifeng Pagoda in Evening Glow
Three Pools Mirroring the Moon
Lingering Snow on Broken Bridge
Twin Peaks Piercing the Clouds-The "Jungfrau of West Lake"Other attractions include:
Yue fei Memorial Hall,
Lingyin Temple,a Buddhist monastory and surrounding hills and gardens.
Longjing tea farms,a really renowned for the quality of its tea leaves.
Galloping Tiger Spring,a spring famous for its water.
Tomb of Su Xiaoxiao,a famous courtesan.
Tomb of Wu Song,famous for slaying a tiger;destroyed during the Cultural Revolution,and rebuilt in 2004.
West Lake in culture
Classical Chinese buildings inside the West Lake.The West Lake is said to be the incarnation of Xi shi,one of the four Beauties of ancient China.Hence,since ancient times,the West Lake was philosophers,national heroes and heroines.
Eastern Jin dynasty philosopher Ge Hong racticed Taoism in the Ge Mountain,and wrote his great philosophical work:Bao Pu Zhi.
Tang Dynasty poet Luo Binwang reclused in Lingyin Temple
Tang Dynasty poet-governor Bai Juyi built the first dy ke,which is the Bai Dy ke.
Song Dynasty poet-governor Su Dongpo,dredged the lake and built up the Su Dy ke,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 restauant in Hangzhou.
Song Dynasty national hero Yue Fei was buried near the West Lake.
Lotus in the Breeze at the Winding Courtyard The great Ming Bynasty essayist Zhang Dai,wrote a number great essays about the West Lake in Reminiscence and Dream of Tao'an,and a whole book:Search for West Lake in Dreams.The West Lake has been famous for its exquisite beauty for more than one thousand years.Hangzhou had been the site for the 2006 World Leisure Expo.
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