The famous ancient Chinese poet Bai Juyi of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) could not imagine a thousand years later the West Lake that fascinated him would also win the hearts of people worldwide.
At local time 5:55 p.m. June 24 in Paris, the World Heritage Committee officially admitted the West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou to UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
At the following press conference, Wang Guoping, team leader of the application program and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Hangzhou City, said, “The application work started in 1999, and the whole process lasted more than a decade. We can say it is 10 years
of sharpening a sword.” West Lake is the only lake named as a world heritage in China and one of the few lakes on the list in the whole world.
Located in the western part of the city proper, West Lake is both a natural lake and a cultural landscape. It is said it came from a shallow bay where the Qiantang River ran into the sea in ancient times. The total landscape of the West Lake covers 60 square km while the lake surface is 6.5 square km. Average water depth is 2.27 meters. Divided by causeways Baiti, Suti and Yanggong, as well as the Gushan Hill, the lake is partitioned into five—Outer West Lake, West Inner Lake, North Inner Lake, Little South Lake and Yuehu Lake. The Suti and Baiti causeways run across the Outer West Lake, the largest. Gushan Hill is the largest natural island in the lake while the other three small man-made isles Xiaoyingzhou, Huxinting and Ruangongdun are scattered in its center. West Lake in total comprises a hill, two causeways, three islands and five lakes.
There is a saying that the beauty of Hangzhou is in West Lake, centered on which are more than 60 cultural sites at state, provincial and municipal levels and more than 100 attractions.
The most classic natural beauty of the West Lake is in the 10 best-known scenic spots that were mostly formed in the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
The 10 views represent the natural beauty
of the lake during all four seasons and from sunrise to sunset. For example, Remnants of Snow at Broken Bridge features the beautiful scene at the lake during snow. When the sun comes out after snowfall, the snow on the sunny side of the bridge melts first, while the snow on the shady side lingers. Seen from a distance, the bridge appears to be broken. It is a favorite stopover. The famous Chinese folk story The Tale of White Snake also brings the broken bridge scene into the romantic imagination.
The charming scene Viewing Fish at Flower Harbor, dating back to the Song Dynasty, is located at the foot of Huajia Hill on the west bank of the lake where a big fish pond holds a few thousand red carp. Bending over the rails of the bridge and watching as the fish noisily scramble for food thrown to them is an unimaginable experience. The bank of the pond is planted with a rich variety of trees and flowers, enabling a fantastic reflection in the water.
In 1985, people nationwide voted for a further 10 new views at the lake, such as Inquiring About Tea at Dragon Well, Clouds Scurrying Over Jade Emperor Hill, Heavenly Wind Over Wushan Hill, Dreaming of Tiger Spring at Hupao Valley and Nine Greeks Meandering Through a Misty Forest.
The natural beauty of the lake has inspired famous poets, scholars and artists since the 9th century. Many poems are themed on the lake, and aspects of the lake are also related to some poets, such as Baiti Causeway and Suti Causeway. An exaggerating saying goes if there had not been poet Bai Juyi(772-846) of the Tang Dynasty and another famous poet Su Dongpo (1037-1101) of the Song Dynasty, West Lake may possibly have been merely a lake like thousands of lakes of the same kind but not a scenic spot embodying such great cultural significance. Though the two causeways, built separately under the charge of the two poets, have been restored time and again, they have passed down their ancient beauty dating back to the Tang and Song dynasties. They embody the historic Chinese philosophy that man is an integral part of nature.
West Lake has fully demonstrated oriental landscaping design ideas of poetic charm since the Song Dynasty. In 1982, West Lake was named as a national key scenic resort, and in 1985 it was elected one of China’s top 10 national scenic spots.
The UNESCO Committee said the West Lake is an outstanding model of cultural landscape. Through ingenious setting of causeways, isles, pagodas and pavilion bridges, the big lake has formed a large park. It has influenced garden design in other parts of China as well as in East Asia over the centuries, and bears exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition of improving landscape to create a series of vistas reflecting idealized fusion between humans and nature.
The admission of West Lake to the UNESCO list has further enriched the value and types of China’s world heritage, said Tong Mingkang, Deputy Director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. The distinguishing oriental features of West Lake and the cultural charm and aesthetic value it possesses have also added more oriental charm to the treasure house of world heritage. “That is also why West Lake received the unanimous approval of all 21 UNESCO Committee member states,” Tong said.
“The title is an honor, but is also an obligation,” Tong added. Protection work is now more important and more urgent.
The protection work of the site had already been underway before the application for admission to the list. Chen Tongbin, a member of the application program team, said more than 500,000 square meters of illegal building around the lake have been removed in recent years, 7,000 citizens have been relocated and more than 1,800 natural scenes have been restored. In 2007, a 67-meter-high building near the lake was demolished because it affected the landscape.
“Protecting the West Lake is an eternal theme and today marks a starting point for Hangzhou to continue the work,” said Wang. He believes successful inscription on the list is not the end of the project, but rather the start of efforts for the well-being of later generations.
The West Lake is an organic body that has been living for 2,000 years. “We want to let it live for another 2,000 years,” Wang said. Despite its World Heritage status, the lake, including all its scenic spots, would continue to be free to the public.
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has suggested the city administration make sure any construction does not extend to hills around the lake as seen from the two causeways and pay attention to growing wear and tear on the site because of the inevitable growth in the number of tourists following the lake’s inclusion on the list.