Xianshan Lake in Changxing
4 min readXianshan Lake means a celestial land with natural landscapes of mountain and lake. To be more exact, it consists of a fairymountain and a fairylake. This scenic site has got superior ecological environment with the luxuriant vegetation and natural wetlands. Many rare animals and water birds live there. Xianshan Lake borders upon Anji County on the south, and Guangde County in Anhui Province on the west. It is about 85 kilometers away from Hangzhou,170 kilometers away from Shanghai and 200 kilometers away from Nanjing. Covering an area of 20 square kilometers, it is a very charming tourist site.
Xian Mountain has a circumference of 10 kilometers with the peak height of 162 meters. The mountain is not high but tourists can catch a viewof three provinces at a glance on the top. The mountain is not extensive but well-covered with green vegetation. It is famous for an ancient legend from the Tang Dynasty. It is said that a prince royal called Jin Qiao Jue came from the South Korea. He devoted himself to Buddhism and sought for divine advice in China. Having been to Putuo Mountain, he came to Xian Mountain. Greatly attracted by the beautiful scenery of Xian Mountain, He decided to settle down and began his life as a monk to learn Buddhism. He built a temple on the mountain in which the rites were performed. After several years, he went to Jiuhua Mountain to preach when he had profound attainments of Buddhism. He attained the right fruit eventually by hisproper consequence of a regulated life in the world, and became Dizang Bodhisattva. Because he once cultivated his moral character on Xian Mountain first, an old saying goes like that “Small Xian Mountain comes before Grand Jiuhua Mountain”. Therefore, Many Buddhist devotees have been to Xian Mountain from the ancient time to now. The believers go to worship in a steady stream, particularly on the birthday of Dizang Bodhisattva, and the birthday of Guanyin Bodhisattva every year. Xian Mountain has been a sacred mountain for thousand years. In the past, the temple on the mountain was destroyed many times, but it got repaired and rebuilt. Mt. Xian was originally called Mt. Fuyun (Floating Cloud Mountain), or Mt. Jian (Pinnacle Mountain). It gained considerable fame for its magic flash of light in the Qing Dynasty. The magic flash of light wasconsidered the spiritual power of the Saint by disciples. It was said that Dizang Bodhisattva made its presence more than once after the set-up of the Dizang Pagoda in the 13th year of Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty (1656).
From then on, the name of the mountain has been changed to Xian Mountain(Celestial Mountain), the temple has been named Xiansheng Temple(Presenting Saint Temple). The religious constructions we now see were built after the 1990s. There are four main halls, including Heavenly Hall, Earthly Hall, Three Saints Hall and the Grand Hall. On the top of themountain, Dizang Pagoda stands upright in the center of the Nirvana City.
Walking down the flight of stone steps from the southern side of Xiansheng Temple, and passing through the dark pine-forest, tourists can visit the Hall of the Arhats and the Hall of Maitreya Buddha. When tourists walk on the ancient slabstone path, they would find a big footprint and a small footprint on some slabstone if they pay close attention. Rumour has it that the two footprints were left when Dizang Bodhisattva awaited the arrival of Guanyin Bodhisattva coming from afar. The statues of Buddhas in the main halls are all over 10 meters high, and Maitreya Buddha is considered one of the biggest indoor statues in existence.
Xianshan Lake lies at the foot of Xian Mountain, and the wide open surface of water covers about 10 square kilometers. There was no lake as the lake of today until the 1960s. Xianshan Lake was formed when the long dam was constructed to retain water in that time. Because of a causeway going across the water area from the east to the west, the water area is divided into two lakes. The southern lake is small and the northern lake is large comparatively.A vast stretch of wetland to the northwest of the lakeboasts the largest wetland in northern Zhejiang.A peninsula on the side ofthe lake has good surroundings, and other scenic spots are going to develop into a hot ecological tourist site.
Xianshan Lake, as an ecological site, is a gathering place not only for many wild birds and water-fowls to perch, but also for wild swans to stay.
The green mountain and clear water make a pleasing contrast and set eachother off. The peaceful lake mirrors the swaying willows on the lakeside, and the blue sky provides a background for the temple and the pagoda on the mountain. All brings the site beauty and creates the fairyland.
