The West Lake is going to present tourists with some more newly restored scenic spots like Smelling Sweet Osmanthus in Manlong, Listening for Sound of Waves on Liuhe Pagoda, Sinology Forum at Wansong Academy and Foggy Mountain Sights and Traditional Chinese Residence at Nine-stream Scenic Area.

The ten projects completed in the 8th West Lake Comprehensive Restoration were released at the foot of the impressive ancient Liuhe Pagoda on Sep 27.

First built in 970 A.D., Liuhe Pagoda has endured through Song (960—1279 A.D.), Yuan (1279-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The current main structure was built in South Song (1127-1279). The new Liuhe Pagoda Scenic Area has been cleaned and fully renovated. Kaihua Temple has also been refurnished and the walls encircling the temple are once again erected to reshape the ancient courtyard.

After the completion ceremony, people went to visit the Nine-stream Scenic Area. Entering from the Wuyunshan Pailou, or Archway, the visitors were welcomed by the cherry trees and sweet osmanthus trees along both sides of the path. Houses built with traditional local architectural elements hosted citizens and tourists with the best Longjing Tea and fish from Qiantang River.

Wang Guoping, chief secretary of CPC Hangzhou Committee, praised that the renovation projects of the ten scenic spots, which has been famous since hundreds of year ago, successfully restored the ancient look of this area with better residential and traffic facilities.

For nine years in a row, Hangzhou has been bettering the West Lake. The roads circling the lake have been all completed. Scenic spots and museums around it have also been open to public for free.

Being illegally built in the West Lake Scenic Area, buildings with a floor area of 594 thousand square meters have been demolished. 265 companies and organizations and 2,791 homes have moved out, resulting in a population decrease of 7,021 in this area. The protection projects also help increase the waters area by 0.9 square kilometers and deepen the average depth of the lake through dredging from 1.65m to 2.5 meter. More importantly, the lake water is more transparent than before. Now people can see through 73 centimeters from 50 centimeter in the past.

“Nine years’ relentless toil constitutes an epic telling the harmonic interaction between human and nature. It is the project of environmental protection and the inheritance of traditions. It is a project improving the city’s infrastructure and securing the success of being enlisted as the World Heritage”, remarked Wang Guoping, “for protecting the Lake, there is only starting point but no finish line; there is only comma, no period”.

Editor: Charlie