When it comes to traveling to Yangzhou, the first thing that comes to mind is Slender West Lake, just as when people think of Hangzhou, it is a city's business card. However, it is also called West Lake, Yangzhou Slender West Lake and Hangzhou West Lake are completely different forms and scenery. The beauty of Slender West Lake, in addition to the beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers, is also famous for the prosperity of gardens, with a spectacular scene of "two embankments of flowers and willows all by the water, all the way to the mountain". The charming scenery and profound cultural heritage make Slender West Lake not only a business card of Yangzhou, but also a tourist destination that countless tourists yearn for.
Taken in January 2023 in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province.
Slender West Lake, which is actually the moat west of Yangzhou City, looks slender. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, a poet from Hangzhou, Wang Xin, saw that the beauty of Slender West Lake was quite similar to that of his hometown Hangzhou West Lake, but the shape was slightly slender, so he called it "Slender West Lake", and this name has been used to this day.
Slender West Lake is located at No. 28, Dahongqiao Road, Weiyang District, Yangzhou City, with a total area of 2,000 acres, of which 700 acres are in the water area. Slender West Lake was first built in the Sui Dynasty, and after the continuous construction of many dynasties, it formed the urban landscape belt we see today. It is connected to the Grand Canal water system, so it is also listed as one of the "Grand Canal of China" heritage sites on the World Cultural Heritage List.
Slender West Lake has a garden landscape that is now in the world, and is closely related to the prosperous salt industry in Yangzhou during the Qing Dynasty. During the Qianlong period, the salt merchants on the rich side found that the scenery on both sides of the lake was good, and began to build pavilions by the lake, and slowly formed a grand situation of "two embankments of flowers and willows all by the water, all the way to the mountain", and Slender West Lake has also become a scenic spot longed for by countless tourists from a moat.
Slender West Lake mainly has fourteen major attractions. The first thing we see is Xu Garden, built on the site of "Peach Blossom Dock". The garden gate is round, and the word "Xu Yuan" is written on the forehead, and "Xu" is the letter; "Garden" is cursive, which looks very peculiar and relatively rare. Xu Garden is a traditional Soviet-style garden layout, with ponds, pavilions and pavilions in the garden, and the water of Slender West Lake is wrapped around, forming a scene of a lake in the lake. Xu Garden, as the screen of Slender West Lake, slowly kicks off from here, allowing visitors to enter the beautiful scenery step by step, and the layout is very ingenious.
Bypassing Xu Garden, walking through the Little Red Bridge, you will come to the largest island in Slender West Lake "Xiaojin Shan", which is not only the most densely built place on the lake, but also the most essential attraction in the entire Slender West Lake. Important attractions such as the wind pavilion, piano room, chess room, moon view, and Muxi book house are concentrated here. In winter, brew tea in the Xiaojinshan hearth, taste tea and enjoy the scenery, which has a special flavor.
Standing in Xiaojin Mountain, you can see the most magnificent lake and mountain scenery of Slender West Lake, and you can also look at several iconic landscapes from afar. In front of you is the blowing platform, which ends at the end of a that plunges directly into the lake. The blowing platform cleverly uses the Chinese garden "frame scene" technique, which is the best spot for tourists to take photos.
There is a big wonder in Slender West Lake, right in Xiaojin Mountain, which is the legendary "dead wood meets spring". This is a ginkgo tree planted in the Tang Dynasty, unfortunately it was struck by lightning, and the tree has since withered, and it is used as a stump bonsai for people to enjoy. I never thought that a lingxiao flower grew out of this dead tree, and every spring and summer, the branches and flowers were full of trees, and this also showed the legend of "dead wood meets spring".
Wuting Bridge, also known as Lotus Bridge, was built in the 22nd year of Qianlong (1757 AD) and was modeled after the Five Dragon Pavilion and Seventeen Holes Bridge in Beihai, Beijing. There are five pavilions built on the bridge, with cornices and angles; There are fifteen bridges and caves underneath, connected by caves, which are both rare and spectacular, and are the main landscape of the entire Slender West Lake, and are also one of the landmark buildings in Yangzhou and one of the ten famous bridges in ancient China.
In addition to the above introduction, Slender West Lake also has famous garden attractions such as White Pagoda, Kaizhuang, Twenty-four Bridges, Ten Thousand Gardens, Yechun Garden, Dahongqiao, Changdi Spring Willow, Shuangfeng Cloud Stack, Meiling Spring Depth, Lake Caotang, Rolling Stone Cave Tian, West Garden Qushui and other famous garden sites, which are worth everyone to enjoy slowly and savor.