Rocky Gates of Tianchi Lake
2 min readIt is also called”The Rocky Gates in A Line”. In 1783, Mingliang, the husband of Emperor Qianlong’s niece -the third General of Urumqi excavated the Tianchi Channel. Inthe next spring, the channel was cut off, and”the edge of the channel is dozens of feet higher than the water level”and was regarded”useless for reclaimation”, so Emperor Qianlong ordered to”stop the excavation, and the cost money shall be repaid by Mingliang Later when making tablet Mingliang did not mention anthing of the channel in the mainbody, except for the title”excavated the channel”.”
In the north of fukang, there is divine mountain with its peak towering in mist, and it is where Tianchi Lake located. It is id that this lake is the home cave of a flood dragon, and the lake is always covered with snow and ice, boundless as it was. Anyone who wants to explore its scenery will be stopped by wind and rain at the foot of the mountain, I have entered from the southern pass with several attendants. The streams are winding, as well as the mountain path, and treesare in lush expressing luxuriantly green. The path winds forwards among the green forests and mists across steep mountains and valleys, which is”not second to the zigzag Shu’s Paths(the paths in Sichuan mountains)”(Tablet Inscription of Excavating Tianchi Channel The mentioned winding path of”not second to the zigzag Shu’s Paths”is under the Rocky Gates.
The Rocky Gate is a natural entrance to the Tianchi scenic spots, which is about a hundred meters wide, and the narrowest part is only about ten meters. The gate is a valleyincised by the watercourse that located between the two peaks with a narrow pass, so it is also known as”Rocky Valley “. The steep cliffs are as high as tens of meters, and about 100m long, which are quite fantastic like two opened door planks. The color is dark reddish brown, looking like being casted by iron, so the gate is also named as”Iron Gate Pass Sangong River flows through the Rocky Gate with torrential water splashing the spoondrifts, the path winds along the river, and the roar of the water echoed in the deep valley.
