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Yangzhou Slim West Lake-"rare to be confused"
The Slim West Lake, originally named River of Protection and now with another name Changchun Lake (Long Spring Lake), lies in the northwestern suburbs of Yangzhou City in Jiangsu Province. It is now a lake for sightseeing transformed from an ancient river course.
 Along the lake, slopes of various shapes stretch, bamboo trees luxuriate and strings of clear water wind. Residents nearby build gardens, pavilions and ponds, making use of the rich water source. In the eras of Emperor Yongzheng and Qianlong , eight greatest artists in Yangzhou haunted along the lake.
The eight greatest artists are Jinnong, Luopin, Zheng Banqiao, Huangshen, Gaoxiang, Li Fangying, Lichan and Wang Shishen. They made Yangzhou their activity center and were brave enough to break with the outmoded conventions to create a new and more pungent painting style. Many of their masterpieces handed down from generation to generation, such as the Picture of Tanzhi Attic by Gaoxiang, and the Picture of Baoqin (a lady holding some musical instrument) and Portrait of Zhongkui by Huangshen, etc. Jinnong was good at painting the plum on the covers of folding fans and Zheng Banqiao is among the best artists in painting the fragrant thoroughwort, bamboo and rocks.
It is said that the name of the lake may come from a poem written by Wanghang, a poet in the time of Emperor Qianlong:
The willows hang down to the withered weeds,
The posts and red bridges are beautiful like in a picture;
It is also a money-consuming pot like the West Lake, so
It should be called Slim West Lake.
The 4km long lake is as narrow as less than 100m in width. Though it is not so broad as the West Lake in Hangzhou, people from the high society spend money like water here just as they do on the West Lake. That is why the poet Wanghang called it a money-consuming pot and the artist Zheng Banqiao sighed"it is rare to be confused".
Around the lake, there are many scenic spots, such as the Rainbow Bridge, the Long Dyke, the Xu Garden, The Little Golden Hill, the Five-pavilion Bridge, the Fu Island and the white pagoda, etc.
The Rainbow Bridge is now a stone arch bridge. Originally, it was a wooden bridge of red posts built in the end of Ming Dynasty. Lotus floats upon the lake and willows line up the both sides. Inverted images of the zigzag railings and carved beams reflected in the transparent water. Wang Shizhen, a poet in Qing Dynasty sang in his verse:
A red bridge flies across the lake,
With red zigzag railings;
In the afternoon, quickly passes by the lotus, a gaily-painted pleasure-boat,
With people entertain themselves laughing.
The Long Dyke is hundreds meters long lined up with willows. At the northern end, there is the Xu Garden in memory to and named after Commander Xu Baoshan died in the Revolution of 1911. Opposite to the garden is the Little Golden Hill, an island with Moon Observatory in the east and Chui Platform in the west. The Moon Observatory is a good place to appreciate the moon at night. It faces eastwards and on the pillars hangs a couplet written by Zheng Banqiao:
The moon rises upon the lake,
Clouds fly over the hills.
The Chui Platform is also called Fishing Platform. According to legend, Emperor Qianlong once angled here in his tour around the southern empire. From this platform over the Five-pavilion Bridge, you can see the White Pagoda.
 The Five-pavilion Bridge is also called Lotus Bridge and arches over the lake in the west. There are altogether five pavilions on the bridge with the highest one in the middle and other four standing symmetrically at the southern and northern side. The pavilions are very grand and glorious with yellow glazed tile on the top and green-painted eaves. At the bottom part built 15 bridge openings for the passage of boats. At the night of a full moon, it is like wandering in a fairyland, watching the bright moon reflected upon the lake and inlaid in the bridge openings.
No wonder the eight greatest artists can create their masterpieces to be handed down over generations.
Yueyaquan Lake--a place of producing grape wine and cup of phosphorescent jade <<
Zhaoqing Xinghu Lake-the green treasure-house >>
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