The Serene and Charming West Lake inHangzhou

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The West Lake is located in the western area of Hangzhou City.There are dozens of lakescalled the West Lake worldwide,but the”West Lake”usually refers to the Hangzhou WestLake.It is surrounded by mountains on three sides,with an area of around 6.5 square kilometers.The circumference is around 15 kilometers.The average depth of the West Lake is 0.8 meters,and the capacity is about 14,290,000 cubic meters.The lake is divided by Gu Shan,Bai,Su andYanggong Causeways into five areas.Ordered by their areas,they are the Outer West Lake(waixihu),the West Inner Lake(xilihu),the North Inner Lake(beilihu or lixihu),the Little SouthLake(xiaonanhu)and Yue Lake(yuehu).”The Outer West Lake”is the largest.”Gu Shan”or GuHill is the largest natural island in the lake.Su and Bai Causeways run cross the lake.Threesmall man-made islands,”Xiao Ying Zhou”(xiaoyingzhou),”Hu Xin Ting”(huxinting),and”RuanGong Dun”(wangongdun),lie in the center of the Outer West Lake.Thus,the basic layout is”onehill,two causeways,three islands,and five lakes”.

The West Lake is not only famous for its picturesque landscape,it is also associated withmany scholars,national heroes and revolutionary martyrs,thus embracing many aspects of Chineseculture.In addition,many ancient buildings,stone caves and engraved tablets in surrounding areasare among the most cherished national treasures of China,with significant artistic value.

Due to its prominent historical and cultural status among Chinese scenic resorts,the WestLake was elected as a National Key Scenic Resort in 1982,one of the Ten Scenic Resorts in1985 and national 5A tourist resort in 2006.Moreover,the picture of”Three Ponds Mirroringthe Moon”was printed on the backs of both the one yuan bill of the foreign exchange certificateissued by the government in 1979 and the one yuan bill of the fifth version of RMB issued in2004,indicating the status of the West Lake in China.

Along with its cultural importance,the West Lake historically was also of value for thelocal commercial fishermen.According to statistics from 1977,the 560-hectare lake had theannual fish yield of 1300 kg/hectare,quite a bit more than that of some larger lakes.