West Lake () 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. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

lake of

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, located northwest of the city center. With a shore length of and 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 Tây Hồ (West Lake) is an urban district (''quận'') located on the north side of central Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Sou ...

, named after the lake.

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 known as Sùng Lãm (崇纜), is an ancient king of the Hồng Bàng dynasty of ancient Vietnam. Quân was the son of Kinh Dương Vương, the king of Xích Quỷ. He is ...

and a

hồ tinh Hồ is a Vietnamese word. It may refer to: *Hồ (surname), a Vietnamese surname *Hồ dynasty of Vietnam *Hồ, Bắc Ninh, a township and capital of Thuận Thành District {{disambiguation ...

(

nine-tailed fox The nine-tailed fox () is a mythical fox entity originating from Chinese mythology. In Chinese folklores, foxes are depicted as spirits possessed of magic powers. These foxes are often depicted as mischievous, usually tricking other people, wi ...

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

folk story Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as tales, myths, legends, proverbs, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also includes material ...

claimed that original name of the lake was "Golden Buffalo Lake" (, or

Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary (, Chữ Hán: 詞漢越, literally 'Chinese-Vietnamese words') is a layer of about 3,000 monosyllabic morphemes of the Vietnamese language borrowed from Literary Chinese with consistent pronunciations based on Middle Chi ...

: 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 Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary (, Chữ Hán: 詞漢越, literally 'Chinese-Vietnamese words') is a layer of about 3,000 monosyllabic morphemes of the Vietnamese language borrowed from Literary Chinese with consistent pronunciations based on Middle Chi ...

: 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 Trấn Quốc Pagoda (, chữ Nôm: 𫴶鎭國; Sino-Vietnamese: , chữ Hán: 鎮國寺), the oldest Buddhist temple in Hanoi, is located on a small island near the southeastern shore of Hanoi's West Lake, Vietnam. History The Trấn Quốc ...

, 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 founding emperor of the Early Lý dynasty of Vietnam, ruling from 544 to 548. He was originally a magistrate of the Chinese Liang dy ...

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 language, Vietnamese: Đền Quán Thánh), also known as Trấn Vũ Temple (Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary, Sino-Vietnamese: Chân Vũ Quán, chữ Hán: 真武觀), is a Taoist temple in Hanoi, Vietnam. Dated to the 11 ...

, one of the Four Sacred Temples of ancient Hanoi (). Chu Văn An High School, one of the oldest

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

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. The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...

References

* {{Authority control Tây Hồ Phú Thượng Lakes of Hanoi Tourist attractions in Hanoi