west lake杭州西湖英文详细介绍.doc

West LakeWest Lake or Xī Hú (Chinese: 西湖; literally "West Lake") is a famous fresh water lake located in the historic area of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province in eastern China. The lake is divided by the causeways of Sū Dī (苏提 / 蘇堤), Bái Dī (白堤), and Yánggōng Dī (杨公堤 / 楊公堤). There are numerous temples, pagodas, gardens, and artificial islands within the lake.West Lake has influenced poets and painters throughout the ages for its natural beauty and historical relics, and it has been among the most important sources of inspiration for Chinese garden designers, as evidenced by the impact it had on various Chinese classical gardens.[1] It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011, and was described as having "influenced garden design in the rest of China as well as Japan and Korea over the centuries"[2] and as reflecting "an idealized fusion between humans and nature."[2]There are dozens of lakes called West Lake worldwide, but "West Lake" usually refers to the Hangzhou West Lake, which is located in the western area of Hangzhou City. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides. The average depth of West Lake is 3 meters, and the capacity is about 14,290,000 cubic meters. The lake is divided by Gu Shan, Bai, Su and Yanggong Causeways into five areas. Ordered by their areas, they are Outer West Lake (外西湖), West Inner Lake (西里湖, or 后西湖, or 后湖), North Inner Lake (北里湖 or 里西湖), Little South Lake (小南湖 or 南湖) and Yue Lake (岳湖). "Outer West Lake" is the largest. "Gu Shan" or Gu Hill is the largest natural island in the lake. Su & Bai Causeways run across the lake. Three small man-made islands, "Xiao Ying Zhou" (小瀛洲), "Hu Xin Ting" (湖心亭), and "Ruan Gong Dun" (阮公墩) lie in the center of Outer West Lake. Thus, the basic layout is "one hill, two causeways, three islands, and five lakes".West Lake is not only famous for its picturesque landscape, it is also associated with many scholars, national heroes and revolutionary martyrs, thus embracing many aspects of Chinese culture. In addition, many ancient buildings, stone caves and engraved tablets in surrounding areas are among the most cherished national treasures of China, with significant artistic value.[edit] HistoryThe earliest name for West Lake was "Wulin Water" (武林水). In the Book of Han, the "Geography Column" section says, "Qiantang, affiliated to west governor general. Wulin mountain is the origin of Wulin water. Runs east into the sea, covering 830 Chinese miles." Its former names include "Qian Water", "Qiantang Lake", "Mingsheng Lake", "Jinniu Lake", "Shihan Lake", "Shang Lake", "Lianyan Lake", "Fangsheng Pond", "Xizi Lake", "Gaoshi Lake", "Xiling Lake", "Meiren Lake", "Xianzhe Lake", "Mingyue Lake", and etc. But only two names were widely accepted in history and recorded in historical documents. One is "Qiantang Lake", due to the fact that Hangzhou was called "Qiantang" in ancient times. The other name is "West Lake", due to the lake being west of the city. The name "West Lake" first appeared in two poems of Bai Juyi, "Bestowed on guests as returning from West Lake in the evening and looking back to Gushan Temple" (西湖晚歸回望孤山寺贈諸客) and "On the returning boat to Hangzhou" (杭州回舫). Since North Song Dynasty, most poems and articles of scholars used the name "West Lake", while the name "Qiantang Lake" was gradually deprecated. "The request of dredging West Lake" written by Su Shi was the first time that "West Lake" appeared in an official document.[edit] Qin DynastyOver 2,000 years ago, West Lake was still a part of Qiantang River. Due to soil sedimentation, the feet of the surrounding mountains on north and south sides of the lake, Wu Mountain and Baoshi Mountain gradually stretched to form shoal heads. Later these sand spits slowly merged to into a sandbank, to which a lagoon emerged to the west: this was the old West Lake, of the Qin and Han dynastic eras. "West Lake Dream Searching" (西湖夢尋) written by Zhang Dai (張岱) recorded, "Big Stone Buddhist Temple. According to ancient history, Qin Shi Huang traveled east into the sea, and moored the boat to this stone." The Big Stone Buddhist Temple referred to was located at Baoshi Mountain, north of the West Lake. These days the "Qin Shi Huang mooring stone" can still be seen.[edit] Sui DynastyThe short lived Sui Dynasty was known for its great engineering works which it accomplished during its brief existence. After Daye 6th year (610), Sui Dynasty, the Jiangnan Canal was opened and connected to the North Canal. Thus, five major rivers of China, namely the Hai River, Yellow River, Huai River, Yangtze River, and Qiantang Riverall were connected: this facilitated transportation to and from Hangzhou and thus boosting bith its and general economic development. Tourism in Hangzhou also started to boom.[edit] Tang DynastyIn the Tang Dynasty, West Lake had an area of roughly 10.8 square kilometers. The western and southern parts of the lake all extended to the foot of West Hill. The northeaste。