West Lake ( vi, Hồ Tây) is the biggest

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

lake of

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, located northwest of the city center. With a shore length of 17 km (about 10.6 miles) and 500 hectare (about 5 km2) in area, this is the largest lake of the capital and a popular place for recreation with many surrounding gardens, hotels and villas. A small part of West Lake is divided by Thanh Niên road to form

Trúc Bạch Lake Trúc Bạch Lake (Vietnamese: ) is one of the many lakes in the city of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. It is known outside Vietnam as the site where future United States politician John McCain landed during the Vietnam War after being shot down. ...

. Most of the lake is located within Tây Hồ District, named after the lake. Hô Tây, Hanoi (4282156200)

History

West Lake was created from a curved part of Red River and appeared in several Vietnamese legends. One legend suggests that West Lake was shaped after the battle between

Lạc Long Quân Lạc Long Quân (Chữ Hán:貉龍君; "Dragon King of Lạc"; also called Sùng Lãm 崇纜) is a semi-mythical king of the Hồng Bàng dynasty of ancient Vietnam. Quân was the son of Kinh Dương Vương, the king of Xích Quỷ. He is the ...

and a nine-tailed

fox spirit Huli jing () are Chinese mythological creatures usually capable of shapeshifting, who may either be benevolent or malevolent spirits. In Chinese mythology and folklore, the fox spirit takes variant forms with different meanings, powers, charact ...

, and that's why the lake was once called "Fox Corpse Swamp" (). Another

folk story Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging fro ...

claimed that original name of the lake was "Golden Buffalo Lake" (, or Hán Việt: Hồ Kim Ngưu) because it was formed from struggle of a buffalo after the disappearance of her calf. In the 11th century, the lake was named "Foggy Lake" (Hán Việt: Hồ Dâm Đàm) due to its misty condition. Ultimately its name was changed to "West Lake" in 1573 to avoid the given name of Emperor

Lê Thế Tông Lê Thế Tông (chữ Hán: 黎世宗, 1567 – 12 October 1599, reigned 1573–1599), real name Lê Duy Đàm (黎維潭) was the 15th emperor of the later Lê dynasty of Vietnam. He was the fifth son of Lê Anh Tông, born during the Trịnh� ...

, which was Duy Đàm. West Lake is bordered by many significant places in the history of Hanoi and Vietnam. Trấn Quốc Pagoda, an ancient Buddhist temple in Vietnam,Charles Agar, tr. 133 was built in the 6th century by Emperor

Lý Nam Đế Lý Nam Đế (chữ Hán: 李南帝, 503 – 13 April 548), personal name Lý Bí or Lý Bôn (李賁), was the founder of the Early Lý dynasty of Vietnam, ruling from 544 to 548. Overview Lý Bôn (李賁, sometimes read as Lý Bí) was a loc ...

and is located on a small island in the middle of the lake. Near Trấn Quốc Pagoda is

Quán Thánh Temple Quán Thánh Temple (Vietnamese: Đền Quán Thánh), also known as Trấn Vũ Temple ( Hán Việt: Trấn Vũ Quán, Hán tự: 真武觀), is a Taoist temple in Hanoi, Vietnam. Dated to the 11th century, the temple was dedicated to Xuan Wu, o ...

, one of the Four Sacred Temples of ancient Hanoi ( vi, Thăng Long Tứ Trấn). Chu Văn An High School, one of the oldest

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

s in Vietnam, is also located close to the lake.

Recreation activities

As Hanoi's largest lake, located right in the center of Hanoi, West Lake is abundant with gardens, hotels, restaurants and other entertainment centers. For this reason, real estate prices near West Lake are staggering, and the surrounding quarters are often full of many imposingly large edifices occupied by wealthy Vietnamese people and

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

References

* {{Authority control Lakes of Hanoi Tourist attractions in Hanoi Hong River Lakes of Vietnam