The West Lake
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning! I’m a tour guide . My name is ... I’m very glad to accompany you all to visit the West Lake. I’ll try my best to make your tour an enjoyable one. I expect your support and cooperation. If you have any questions or demands, please let me know and I’ll do my utmost to accommodate your needs. Thank you!
As a popular saying goes,“there is a paradise above, so are there Hangzhou and Suzhou below”. In the 13th century, Marco Polo came to Hangzhou and declared it to be “the finest, most splendid city in the world...where so many pleasure may be found that one fancies oneself to be in the paradise.” The annual visitor to this paradise amount to 20 millions, ten times as many as the local residents. But you will not feel crowded here because the lake is large, walkways are wide, the causeways are long.
The focus of the exceptionally beautiful city is West Lake(Xi Hu). West Lake covers an area of 6.38 square kilometers. The average depth is 2.27meters with deepest being 5 meters. It is 3 miles across and 9 miles around, with islets and temples, pavilions and gardens, causeways and arched bridges, flowers and trees. Three sides of the lake are surrounded by verdant（翠绿的） mountains and one side the prosperous（繁荣的） city. After a large scale reconstruction（重建）, the current West Lake has recovered the panorama（全景） over 300 years before when it reached the most prosperous period in history。All these have made Hangzhou’s West Lake“a landscape composed by a painter.”
West Lake or Xī Hú is a famous fresh water lake located in the historic area of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province in eastern China. It evolved from a shallow bay through which the Qiantang River flowed into the East China Sea. In the ancient times it was called Wulin Waters, Golden Buffalo Lake, Qiantang Lake and Xizi Lake.
The name of West Lake was fixed as early as the Tang Dynasty (618-907). In the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the Chinese renowned(著名)poet Su Dongpo wrote a poem to praise the West Lake and compared it to Xizi, a Chinese legendary beauty. Since then, the West Lake has another elegant name Xizi Lake. And as it lies in the west of Hangzhou, it is usually called the West Lake.
The West Lake is also famous for its historical flavor with numerous celebrities. National heroes Yue Fei, Yu Qian, Zhang Ruoshui and Qiu Jin were all burined along the West Lake, leaving their illustrious names and noble spirits in the green hills and blue waters. Moreover, many ancient poets and artists, such as Bai Juyi, Su Dongpo, Liu Yong and Pan Tianshou, had also left countless famous writings.
History
One of the major attractions in West Lake: Three Pools Mirroring the Moon islandIn 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 the farmland nearby depended on the water of West Lake, but due to negligence of former governors, the old dyke 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 dyke, with a dam to control the flow of water, and thus solved the drought problem. The livelihood of local people of Hangzhou improved over the following years. Now that Bai Juji had more leisure time to enjoy the beauty of West Lake, he visited West Lake almost every day. He ordered the construction of a causeway connecting the Broken Bridge with the Solitary Hill, to facilitate walking on foot, instead of depending on boat. Then he planted peach trees and willows trees along the dyke, making it a beautiful landmark of West Lake. This causeway was later named Bai Di 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 Causeway. There are six bridges along the 2.6 km Su Causeway. "Spring Dawn on the Su Causeway" is one of
The attractions oat the West Lake.
The Bai Causeway was named after Bai Juyi, a famous poet in Tang Dynasty , who fell into disfavor in the capital and was sent here to serve as a governor in 822~824A.D. He saw to the construction of the causeway ,which was composed of the silt dredged from the lake. At the north end of the causeway is the well-known Broken Bridge (断桥），so named because the bridge looks artistically broken in distance when winter snows first melt on the bridge. According to The Tale of White Snake , this was the very place where the hero and heroine met and fell in love, and later on got reunited after many hardships and difficulties. At the west end of the causeway is the Solitary Island that the china’s most traveled emperors of the last dynasty, Kangxi(1662-1723A.D.) and Qianlong(1736~1795A.D.)stayed as sightseers after a long distance sailing from Beijing, through the Grand Canal to Hangzhou. A reviewing platform was built on the southern tip of the island for the emperors to watch the sunrise and the moonlight. Emperor Qianlong named the place The Autumn Moon on a Calm Lake(平湖秋月）. Today many people are sipping the Dragon Well tea and watching the same view on this platform as the emperors did.
The Su Causeway(Sudi) is three times as long as the Bai Causeway. This great connects the north and south shores along the western side of West Lake. Lined with weeping willow trees and peach flowers, crossed by six arched stone bridges, the Su Causeway is a landscape drawn by the painter and composed by the poet. This causeway is named after the famous poet Su Tungpo(1036~1101A.D.), who was sent here to work as the governor. He had 200 000 workers dredge the lake and make the causeway with the dredged silt. Su wrote a poem to name the lake after an astounding beauty named Xizi(西施). The poem goes,“Water shimmering on a shiny day, mountains clothed in the misty rain, West Lake is forever charming like Xizi, whether dressed gaily or plain.”
From the Su Causeway the visitors can get the best view of the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon(三潭印月），which was another creation of the poet-governor Su Tungpo. It is a defining monument of West Lake. There are three water pagodas, floating on the waters, fastened to the bed of the lake. Each pagoda is about 6 feet high, with five be four moons shimmering on the waters, which is effected by the openings of the three floating pagodas.
The famous West Lake is like a brilliant pearl embedded in the beautiful and fertile shores of the East China Sea near the mouth of the Hangzhou Bay. The famous Italian traveler Marco Polo was so impressed by the beauty of Hangzhou that he described it as “the most fascinating city in the world where one feels that one is in paradise.” As it is beautiful all the year round, the West Lake was compared by Su Dongpo, a celebrated poet of the Song Dynasty, to a beauty “who is always charming in either light or heavy makeup.”
West Lake in Culture
Classical Chinese buildings inside the West LakeThe 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 associated with a large number of romatic poets, profound philosophers,national heroes and heroines.
Eastern Jin Dynasty philosopher Ge Hong practiced Taoism in the Ge Mountain, and wrote his great philosophical work: Bao Pu Zhi (抱朴子);
Tang Dynasty poet Luo Binwang reclused in Lingyin 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 Yue Fei was buried near the West Lake.
Lotus in the Breeze at the Winding CourtyardThe great Ming Dynasty essayist Zhang Dai, 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.
Scenery
Centering around the West Lake, the scenic area is a national scenic area with a total cover of 59 square kilometers. There are over 60 Chinese national, provincial and municipal cultural relic protection sites and over 100 scenic areas. The main attractions include: Ten scenes of the West Lake, Ten New Scenes of the West Lake; Lingyin Temple, Tiger-running Spring and so on.
The Lingyin Monastery（灵隐寺）
The Lingyin Monastery, or the Monastery of Soul's Retreat, is a famous historical site of the West Lake. Here exists the Lingyin Monastery, a famous ancient temple in China, in front of which there are Feilai Peak, Cold Spring, Longhong Cave and precious rock cave arts and queer and varied natural caves and gullies.
Tiger-running Spring（虎跑泉）
The legend goes that two tights ran there and made a hole where a spring gushed out. The Longjing Tea and the Tiger-running Spring water are always reputed as the "Two Wonders of the West Lake".
The lake is divided into 3 parts by the causeways of Sū Dī (苏堤), Bái Dī (白堤). Scenic and poetic ,both of them are ideal stretcher to walk on West Lake . There are numerous temples, pagodas, gardens, and artificial islands within the lake.With ripples on the water’s surface and thickly-wooded hills dotted by exquisite pavilions on its four sides, the West Lake is one of China’s best known scenic spots.
A collection of ten scenic views formed during the Southern Song Dynasty, they are distributed around and within the lake, and serve to show the charms of the West Lake. Each scene is unique, and when taken together, are said to present the essence of West Lake scenery, and form the core of any West Lake tour. Visitors to the lake can plan to spend their time viewing the "Ten Scenes of the West Lake".
1、The first one isSpring Dawn at Su Causeway （苏堤春晓）.
It is a thin strip of land nearly three kilometers long covered with peach and weeping willow trees. In spring, with the lakeside and dew sparkling(闪闪发光的) in the morning , birds cheerfully chirping among swaying willow branches, the scent of peach blossoms wafting through the air, you'll question whether you're in the midst of paradise.
2、The second one isBreeze-ruffled Lotus at Quyuan Garden(曲院风荷）
This typical West Lake scene has earned its fame since the Southern Song Dynasty, when the lakeside area with an abundant growth of lotus(荷花) off its shores was known as Crooked Courtyard, and was the location of a brewery（啤酒厂）. People said the smell of lotus flowers and wine blended by the cool lake breezes was intoxicating（醉人的）. There are plenty of lotus plants still bloom off its shores. They stand gracefully erect in the lake, as if they knew they had visitors coming to admire their beauty.
3、The third one isAutumn Moon over the Calm Lake（平湖秋月）
At the western end of Bai Causeway is located a lakeside park which houses a stone tablet bearing the etched（凿刻） calligraphy of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, which reads: "Autumn Moon on Calm Lake". The lake is a special place to appreciate the moon and the effect of moonlight on the land. The moon seems especially bright over the waters. The hills look purplish bathed in the moonlight. The best time for nighttime viewing is on Mid-Autumn Day.
4、The fourth one isMelting Snow on the Broken Bridge.（断桥残雪 ）
It is most romantic scene of the ten must-see. The stone-arched Broken Bridge is where the characters of a famous Chinese folktale, Xu Xian and a beautiful girl Baisuzhen, who is actually a white snake and named, first met and fell in love with each other.
After a snowfall, when the snow on the more exposed side has melted（融化）, with the shaded（遮蔽住、阴影） side remaining white, it looks as if a long white belt has been ripped apart on the bridge, thus earning the name "Melting Snow on the Broken Bridge".
5、The fifth one isViewing Fish at Flower Pond（花港观鱼）.
Flower Pond Park occupies an area of twenty-one hectares on a peninsula in the southwest corner of the lake. In its heart is the Red Fish Pond, where people can relax to the sight of brightly colorful fish swimming around and to the brisk melody（旋律） of birdsong. To stay with nature is a highly enjoyable experience.
6、The sixth one isOrioles Singing in the Willows（柳浪闻莺）. An imperial garden built up in the Southern Song Dynasty. Now the once-imperial garden has been turned into a park open to all. Featuring green willows and singing orioles（黄鹂）, there are lawns, pavilions, and bridges that are very impressive, as well.
7、The seventh one isThree Pools Mirroring the Moon（三潭印月）.
Just off the southern shore of the Island of Little Oceans （小瀛洲）stand three small stone pagodas that seem to float on the water. Each about 2 meters high, when candles are placed inside on moonlit nights, the effect is of 4 moons dancing on the shimmering(闪光) night waters. The scene is especially magical when the giant glowing moon on the night of Mid-Autumn Day is overhead.
8、The eighth one isEvening Bell Ringing at Nanping Hill（南屏晚钟）.
Nanping Mountain stretches along the southern bank of the Lake. At dusk, with the sun slowly drifting into the Lake on the west, a huge bell at Jingxi Temple, will ring its farewell to the last sunbeam of the day. With the prolonged bell sound reverberating across the Lake, the peaceful and sacred air offers you a perfect occasion for meditation.
9、The ninth one is Twin Peaks Piercing the Cloud（双峰插云）.
Gaze at the skies above West Lake, you'll be rewarded with the sight of two limestone(石灰岩) mountains past the northern edge of the lake, one to the northeast and one to the northwest, five kilometers apart. On a drizzling day in spring or autumn, the two peaks come and go amongst the drifting rain clouds.
10、The tenth one is Leifeng Pagoda in Evening Cloud （雷峰夕照）.
Leifeng Pagoda is another renowned scenic spot in Hangzhou. Originally built in the 10th century, Leifeng Pagoda used to stand in front of Jingxi Temple on Nanping Mountain; However，it was failed to stand the test of time, the Pagoda collapsed in early 1900s. In 2002, Leifeng Pagoda was reconstructed; then comes back the typical Sunset Glow over Leifeng Pagoda.
Generally speaking, it is advisable for a tourist to have a two-day tour of the West Lake and scenic spots around it. As a tourist, you will find the trip to Hangzhou both pleasant and culturally rewarding.Hangzhou residents have their way of enjoying the beauty of the West Lake. According to them, “The West Lake looks more delightful on rainy days than on clear days, but it is at its best after darkness has fallen”. When you are in Hangzhou, you ought to go and take in the charm of the lake for yourself.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the end of our visit to the West Lake．Thank you for your cooperation．Hope to see you again here．Thank you．Goodbye!
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