This attraction introduction is compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · Scenic Spots section). Ticket prices, opening hours, transportation, and contact information mentioned in the text may be outdated. Please refer to the latest official announcements from the scenic area before traveling; some content consists of historical background/cultural introductions and is for reference only.
Rosy clouds glow over the West City, where she stands slender and graceful, her fresh fragrance spreading ten li to moisten one's hair. Is it fire without smoke, or is one drunk? A jade-like tinkling over the blue sea.
Red and white stand clearly apart, each with its own renown; aloof and gorgeous, they defy judgment. Lotus leaves spread lush and fish play in the water; the rain passes and the sky clears.
West Lake is a large river pond outside the west gate of Lucheng, with green leaves stretching to the sky and red clouds filling the pond. In summer a gentle breeze blows; scoop up a handful of lake water and it is fragrant and sweet, refreshing to the heart. The lake produces black-shelled crucian carp, delicious in taste and fresh in soup, a local specialty without equal.
In the late Tang and Five Dynasties period (935), King Ma Yin of Chu, to facilitate transport, chose Lucheng to establish the Wangchao Market, opening the first page of Linxiang's recorded history. His consort, Consort Xiao, had grown up in the watery township of Lucheng; as a girl she loved peeling fox nuts, delighted in gathering lotus seeds, and cherished lotus as her life. She often invited three or five female companions to row deep among the green lotus leaves, playing in the water and admiring the flowers, gathering lotus and tasting seeds, which she praised as immortal dew and jade nectar that could make the organs fragrant and strengthen the body and blacken the hair. After she became a noble lady, she still dreamed of West Lake and never forgot to return home to visit old friends. Thus the reputation of 'West Lake's Lotus Fragrance' as a summer resort spread far and wide.
After Liberation, the Hunan Changling Oil Refinery built an oil tanker wharf at Lucheng. Around the lake in the Miren Ridge area of Ma'an Mountain, buildings rose to the clouds and great towers stood in rows; crude oil flowed in abundance and whistles sounded again and again. Everywhere were modern structures and a scene of prosperity, adding splendor to the rivers and mountains and luster to the lotus. Yet 'West Lake's Lotus Fragrance' lost none of its former fame. Lucheng, too, became a modern town rich in fragrant lotus, where everyone loves to eat fragrant lotus.
