Shugang and Slender West Lake, Yangzhou

Overview

About

The Shugang–Slender West Lake scenic area in north-west Yangzhou, Jiangsu, has five parts: Slender West Lake, Shugang, the Tang city, Bijia Hill and Lüyang village, 12 km², known for its history and the gardens of Yangzhou.

In the Ming and Qing many rich salt merchants built gardens along the water, giving rise to the saying “the gardens of Yangzhou are the finest under heaven”. The Qing poet Wang Hang wrote: “weeping willows unbroken to the ruined meadows, the arched bridge like a painting; this too is a pot that melts gold, so it should be called the Slender West Lake.”

It is in the second batch of national parks of China (national scenic areas) named by the State Council in 1988.

Travel tips

Getting there: Yangzhou has Yangzhou East station (high-speed) and Yangzhou station, and you can also fly into Nanjing or Taizhou and transfer. Slender West Lake is in the northwest of the city, ten or so minutes by bus or taxi from the centre.

Slender West Lake: a walking route runs along the lake. Enter at the Great Rainbow Bridge side and pass the Spring Willows on the Long Embankment, Xu Garden, Little Golden Hill and the Five-Pavilion Bridge to the White Pagoda. A circuit takes half a day, and boats are also available.

Shugang: it is north of the lake, with Daming Temple and the site of the Tang city. The hill is low and the interest is mainly temples and historic remains, easily added on the way.

The old city: besides the lake, the old town's Dongguan Street, Ge Garden and He Garden are worth a stop, particularly for an evening walk.

Time: half a day for the lake; with Shugang and the old city, a day is comfortable.

Season: spring has willows along the embankment and the best blossom, and it is the busiest. Summer is hot but the lake has lotus. Autumn and winter are quieter and pleasant.

Where to stay: the old city and Dongguan Street have all kinds of lodging, with many sights within walking distance.

Slender West Lake

Slender West Lake is a classical lakeside garden in the north-west of the city, from Hongqiao in the south to Shugang in the north, “flowers and willows on two banks all by the water, towers and terraces all the way to the hill”. The area covers 104 hectares, 50 of them water, famed for “scenes beyond scenes, gardens within gardens”. It is in fact a broad waterway, formerly the Baozhang River, winding 4.3 km between classical gardens, old temples and the remains of the old city. Its sights are the Long Dyke of Spring Willows, the Twenty-Four Bridge, the Five-Pavilion Bridge, the White Pagoda, the Great Rainbow Bridge, Little Golden Hill, the Xu Garden, the Chuitai terrace and the Moon Pavilion.

Little Golden Hill, ringed by water at the heart of the lake, is where Zhu Ziqing said “the view of the water is best, and the moon is not bad either”.

The Five-Pavilion Bridge, built in the Qing, is an unusual arched stone bridge with five pavilions on top and fifteen arches below, the middle one largest and all passable by boat. Beside it Lianxing Temple has a Tibetan-style stupa modelled on the White Pagoda of Beihai in Beijing.

Shugang and the other areas

Shugang has an east, middle and west peak and is known for religious sites: Daming Temple, Guanyin Chan Temple, the Pingshan Hall, the Gulin Hall, the Ouyang Shrine and the Jianzhen memorial hall. Daming Temple on the middle peak was founded in the Daming reign of the Liu Song; the clay Buddhas in its main hall are masterpieces of Qing Yangzhou craftsmen, and the Jianzhen hall in Tang style was designed by Liang Sicheng.

The Tang city area has the remains of the Tang walls, the Sui palace and the Iron Buddha Temple; Bijia Hill has tea gardens and bonsai; Lüyang village beside the old city has the Shi Kefa shrine, Plum Blossom Ridge, Tianning and Chongning temples, the imperial quay and the Yechun teahouse.

Stamps

In 1998 China and Switzerland jointly issued 1998-26, “Slender West Lake and Lake Geneva”, two stamps.