West Lake () is a man-made recreational lake in

Huicheng District Huicheng District () is a district of Huizhou City, Guangdong Province, China. Huicheng is the northern urban center of Huizhou along with Huiyang as the southern urban center. Administrative divisions Huicheng is responsible for the administrat ...

of Huizhou,

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. West Lake has a combined area of , of which is covered by water. It has been designated as a National AAAAA-level Scenic Spot.

History

During the

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

(25–220), West Lake is a field of wilderness. In the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420), a

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represen ...

named "Longxing Temple" () was built near the lake. Emperor Xuanzong (712–756) changed Longxing Temple to "Kaiyuan Temple" () in the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

(618–907). During the reign of Emperor Zhongzong (684), Sizhou Tower was completed in West Mountain. In the

Northern Song dynasty Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

(960–1127), General Zhang Zhaoyuan () honored the lake as "Langguan Lake" (). In 1066, Magistrate Chen Cheng () enlarged the lake and added several bridges, towers and pavilions, during that time, the lake more commonly known as "Feng Lake" (; Feng means a bumper harvest.) In 1094, Su Shi was exiled to Huizhou, where he lived for three years. Su Shi wrote a lot of poetry about West Lake. In his poem ''Presenting Tanxiu'' (), he compared Feng Lake to

West Lake West Lake (; ) is a freshwater lake in Hangzhou, China. It is divided into five sections by three causeways. There are numerous temples, pagodas, gardens, and natural/artificial islands within the lake. Gushan (孤山) is the largest natural is ...

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...

, which became the earliest record of the name of West Lake. In 1096, the locals erected causeway named "Su Causeway" () and the Xixin Bridge () in memory of Su Shi. That same year, Wang Zhaoyun, the most beloved concubine of Su Shi, was buried in the side of West Lake. Su Shi established a pavilion named "Liuru Pavilion" () to commemorate her. In 1244, in the 4th year of Chunyou period of the

Southern Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

(1127–1279), locals founded the Juxian Hall () within the West Lake, which was renamed "Fenghu Academy" () later. It is the highest school during the

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

(1368–1644) and Qing dynasties (1644–1911). Now the Fenghu Academy was rebuilt in 1801 by Magistrate Yi Bingshou (). From the 1950s to the 1980s, the area of the West Lake has been reduced by 46% because of real estate development. In 2007, the Huizhou Municipal Government has allocated 150 million yuan for the reconstruction project. Starting from the 1970s the water quality of the lake has deteriorated due to sewage flowing into its basin, resulting in high concentration of nutrients and

eutrophication Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytopla ...

. However, in 2018 a basin of the lake has been successfully restored, using the method of

biomanipulation Biomanipulation is the deliberate alteration of an ecosystem by adding or removing species, especially predators. Aquatic ecosystems Changing the fish population of bodies of water as a part of watershed management can facilitate desirable changes ...

Geography

The West Lake is divided into the South Lake (), Feng Lake (), Ping Lake (), E Lake () and Ling Lake (). The West Lake is in the subtropical monsoon climate zone, enjoying ample sunshine and abundant precipitation. The highest temperature is , and the lowest temperature is . Its total annual rainfall of .

Tourist attractions

Six lakes

* South Lake () * Feng Lake () * Ping Lake () * E Lake () * Ling Lake () * Honghua Lake ()

Nine bridges

* Gongbei Bridge () * Xixin Bridge () * Mingsheng Bridge () * Yuantong Bridge () * Yanxia Bridge () * Yingxian Bridge () * Jiuqu Bridge () * Pipa Bridge () * Huazhou Bridge ()

Natural history

As of 2004, West Lake has 117 species of phytoplankton, 127 species of plants, 50 species of birds, 50 species of reptiles and amphibians, and over 50 species of fish.

Gallery

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:West Lake Lakes of Guangdong Huizhou