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 Ticket prices, opening hours, transportation, and contact information mentioned in the text may be outdated.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.
East Lake is located southeast of the Xiangyin county seat. With the expansion of the new urban area and the construction of the Baishui River waterfront landscape, in recent years it has gradually developed into a lake within the city, like a brilliant pearl inlaid in a thousand-year-old ancient city. The earliest East Lake was a natural lake connected to the Xiang River and the Baishui River. After Liberation, the county party committee and county government organized reclamation and construction many times. During the Great Leap Forward era, dikes were built around the lake, forming East Lake and West Lake (also called the "Twin Lakes"). In 1976, the people of Xiangyin responded to the call to "win glory for Chairman," gathering laborers to build dikes and dig ponds, making East Lake a place for urban residents to stroll and rest after work and meals, and also a scenic famous lake where visitors stop. Among the "Eight Scenes of the Ancient City," five scenes are at the head and tail of the lake: "Twin Pagodas Piercing the Clouds," "Two Steps of Green," "Fishing Village Evening Glow," "Long Rainbow Lying on the Waves," and "Duke Du Fishing." The Song Dynasty man Hou Yannian once wrote a poem titled "Duke Du Pavilion" recording the scene of "Duke Du Fishing," which says:
In Duke Du's poem a painted boat is moored, and after chanting, the scenery remains as before;
The lying rainbow reflects on the dike, east and west waters; the mirror-like lake light between them, sky above and below.
In court and countryside hardship and peril, still avoiding the land; on rivers and lakes, declining and ill, through how many years;
The lonely pavilion's ruins leave only melancholy; shore grass and islet flowers fill the evening mist.
East Lake is also a lake of humanities and history. Around the lake or near it, cultural and historical sites come rushing before the eyes at every step and turn. Besides the Wenxing Pagoda, the Monument to the Martyrs of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Zuo Wenxiang Gong Shrine, the Guo Clan Ancestral Hall, the Confucian Temple, the Fahua Temple, the Dongting Temple, the place where Xia Yuanji studied, the Xia Clan Ancestral Hall, the tomb of Xia Yanshu, the tomb of Consort Gan, the Nanquan Temple, the Yuezhou Kiln, the tomb of Chen Jiayou, and Duke Du Fishing, there are also the former residences of Fan Yuanlian and Fan Xudong, Dengpo Bridge, the site of the ancient battle record at Yangsha Lake, and so on. These scenic spots and cultural relics record the rise and fall and changes of the thousand-year-old ancient city of Xiangyin. The county party committee and county government have already placed the development of East Lake on their agenda. East Lake will become another fine place for travelers from afar and friends from all directions to feast on beautiful scenery and pay respects to former worthies.
