Location: in the city of Hangzhou, provincial capital of Zhejiang
The West Lake is situated in the west of Hangzhou City with mountains surrounding on three sides. It is to the west the downtown city. A lake about 15 kilometers in circumference, it is 3.2 kilometers from north to south and 2.8 kilometers from west to east and covers a water area of 5.68 square km. If the isles are included, the area it covers amounts to 6.3 square km. It is 1.55 meters in average depth. The deepest place measures 2.8 meters. The shallowest part is around 1 meter. The quantities of its water are around 8.5 million to 8.7 million cubic meters. The su Embankment and Bai Embankment separate the lake into several small lakes, such as the Outer Lake, the North Li Lake, West Li Lake, Yue Lake and Little South Lake. The West Lake has lots of beautiful scenic spots. In ancient time it was once known for its best ten famous sites. In 1985, the new best ten scenic spots were selected and announced to public. Within 60 square km with the West Lake as the center, there are more than 40 scenic spots. There are more than 30 protected sites of historical value. On November 8th, 1982, the West Lake was listed among the first key scenic resorts. In 1985, the West Lake took the third place during the national competition of beautiful scenic resorts.
In history, the West Lake had different names in different dynasties. In the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD) it was called Wulin Water, Golden Ox Lake, and Mingsheng Lake. In the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Shihan Lake, Qiantang Lake and some other names. In the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), Su Dongpo was the governor of Hangzhou. He wrote a poet to describe the beauty of the West Lake. He compared it with Xi Shi, one of the four most famous ancient beauties in Chinese culture. So the West Lake has another name Xizi Lake.
Just as Su Dongpo described the West Lake as Xi Shi in ancient time, Guo Moruo, the famous modern scholar described the Lake as a goddess. He composed a poem titled 'Goddess of the West Lake'. According to the poem, there was a Goddess in the Lake. At night, she came out from the lake. If any visitor loves her, he would be attracted to the most beautiful part of the lake. After reading this poem, do you feel wanting to meet the mysterious goddess.
As a famous tourist resort, it is also a favorite place for some famous people. Late Chairman Mao came to visit the Lake for 40 times. Once he stayed here for seven months. He always praised the lake. He considered it his second home. Although he praised the beauty of the West Lake for many times, but he never composed any poems eulogizing the lake. According to the people who have worked with him, Chairman Mao thought that one of Su Dongpo's poems called "Drinking on the lake with sun and then rain" was the best one to describe its beauty. So he was afraid no other poems would be better than it. Chairman Mao had calligraphed a lot of poems by ancient poets and five of them were poems about the lake. The lake was loved not only by Chinese great persons but also by China's foreign friends such as American ex-president, Mr. Nixon. He haas been here twice. He said that Beijing is the capital of China, but Hangzhou is the heart of China. And that he would be back again. He also brought to Hangzhou redwood as a gift from his hometown, California.
People always describe the West Lake and the lake in Geneva as two pearls of the east and west. The great Italian traveler Marco Polo once described the lake as the most beautiful and gracious place in the world. The West Lake is the famous scene which has been visited by many presidents from different countries. Mr. Sun Yat-sen said that the West Lake was a unique scene of the world. No other lakes could be compared with it. The lake in Geneva is too big to have a full view while the West Lake is neither too big nor too small. So the West Lake is the pearl of Hangzhou, the pearl of the East and the pearl of the world.