Slender West Lake (Shouxihu)

Classical Qing Dynasty Garden Lake Of Yangzhou; National 5A Tourist Attraction · Yangzhou, Jiangsu

A long, narrow ribbon of water winding through Yangzhou, lined with willows, peach trees, pavilions and bridges, and considered one of the loveliest classical landscapes in China. The lake began as a stretch of old city moat and canal, and in the eighteenth century the salt merchants of Yangzhou - among the richest men in the empire - competed to build gardens along its banks to impress the Qianlong Emperor on his southern tours. Their showpiece is the Five Pavilion Bridge, a broad yellow-roofed span of 1757 with fifteen arches, where on the night of the mid-autumn moon the moonlight is said to appear in every arch at once. Beside it stands the White Pagoda, a Tibetan-style stupa that legend says the merchants built overnight in salt to flatter the emperor, and the little Fishing Platform, whose round moon windows frame bridge and pagoda perfectly for photographs. Paths lead past the Xu Garden, the Twenty-Four Bridge and lotus ponds to Daming Temple on its hill, where the monk Jianzhen set out for Japan in the eighth century. Spring, when the willows green and the peach and plum blossom, is the classic season, as the poets said of going down to Yangzhou in misty March.

Slender West Lake, 28 Da Hongqiao Road, Hanjiang District, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China

Daily about 6:00-19:30 with last daytime entry around 17:15; a separate night session runs about 19:00-22:30 from May to October (check).

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