West Lake – An Inspiriting Location

West Lake, also known as Xi Hu is located at the center of Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province in China. This is a fresh water lake. The lake is having three causeways and divided in to five sections. Xi Hu scenic area has pagodas, gardens, temples and artificial islands. In the year 2011 the lake was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and now is a protected area. The lake is widely considered as an ideal icon where the design is highly influential and also considered as a role model in the nearby countries such as Korea, Japan and rest of the China, due to the harmony unity of human and nature.

The lake is always the inspirational theme for poets and they have lavishly compared its beauty with that of the then living beautiful ladies. The famous poet Su Dongpo who was lived in 960-1127 in Song Dynasty had lavished compared the West Lake to Xi Zi, a most beautiful lady who lived in that era. Such is the beauty of the lake and it is still continue to motivate poets and writers. The lake is covering an area of 5.68 square kilometers, which was originally a shallow sea inlet and gradually slit formed in to a lake after hundred years’ accumulation. The cultural landscaping is believed to be started in 9th century and completed in 13th century. It reached to its full potential since 18th century. Thereafter it plays a more and more important role in culture and people’s life.

Though a dam was built in the lake, due to the accumulation of slit it was difficult to use the lake for navigation for commercial purpose. In 1090 AD dredging project was done in West Lake by the governor Su Shi for the purpose of navigational problems. The waste was drudged to create causeway which has a length of 2.6 kilometers. The causeway was beautified with weeping willow, magnolia tree and hibiscus. Six solid bridges were built to consolidate the causeway.

The West Lake is a beautiful scenic area and there are Ten Scenes of the Lake that should not miss to watch. The Ten Scenes of the Lake are so famous that hundreds of thousand people go to visit them.

Entry to the lake area is restricted by admission fee. Different spots charge different fee, from CNY 20 to CNY 45. Tourists can have a round trip in the lake by battery car for CNY 40 per head. Reaching to Hangzhou is easy thanks to the convenient traffic. In Hangzhou, there are regular busses that can take you to West Lake spot.