Myths about West Lake

1. It is said that the Jade Dragon and the Golden Phoenix in the sky found a piece of white jade on the Fairy Island beside the Milky Way. After pondering for many years, the white jade turned into a bright pearl. Wherever the pearly rays shine, the trees become evergreen and the flowers bloom.

But later the Queen Mother discovered the orb, and the Queen Mother sent heavenly soldiers and generals to snatch it away. The Jade Dragon and the Golden Phoenix rushed to retrieve the bead, but the Queen Mother refused, so a fight broke out. As soon as the mother's hand was loosened, the pearl fell to the world and turned into the sparkling West Lake. The Jade Dragon and the Golden Phoenix also descended to the earth and turned into the Yulong Mountain (the Jade Emperor Mountain) and the Phoenix Mountain.

2. A long time ago, the white sand embankment of West Lake meandered from Gushan to here. There was only an unknown small wooden bridge, closely connected with the lake shore. Tourists who want to go to Gushan have to pass through this small wooden bridge. It is exposed to the sun and rain, and the bridge boards often break, which is very inconvenient for tourists.

There is a simple thatched cottage next to the bridge, where a couple named Duan lives. The two are kind-hearted and hard-working. The man makes a living fishing in the lake, while the woman sets up a wine stall at the door and sells local wine. Because the wine tasted bad, few customers came and business was slow.

One day, when the sun was setting and the couple was about to close the door, a white-haired old man in ragged clothes came, saying that he had come from afar and was penniless, and asked to stay overnight. Seeing that he was old and pitiful, the Duan family enthusiastically allowed him to stay. They also burned a carp just caught from the West Lake and served a bowl of home-made local wine to entertain the old man. The old man was not polite. He drank three large bowls in a row, then fell on the bed and fell asleep.

When the white-haired old man said goodbye the next morning, he said: "Thank you for your kind hospitality. I have three wine pills here to help you make good wine." After that, he took out three red pills. He drank wine and drug, said goodbye and left.

The Duan couple put the old man’s three wine pills in a brewing vat, and the brewed wine was scarlet in color, extremely sweet, and fragrant. From then on, there were customers every day, the Duan family's scarlet wine became famous in Hangzhou, and the business became more and more prosperous day by day. The Duan family demolished the thatched cottage and built a restaurant. In order to thank the white-haired old man, they saved a sum of money and prepared to thank him properly.

The years passed by, and three years passed by. This winter, it snowed heavily in West Lake, and the white-haired old man braved the snow to come to Duan's Restaurant. When the couple saw their benefactor arriving, they were overjoyed and left the old man to live in his home forever. However, the old man had to say goodbye the next day. Before leaving, the Duan family and his wife took out three hundred taels of silver and gave it to the old man.

The old man declined with a smile and said: "Thank you couple for your kindness. I am a lonely old man, why do I need so much money? You should use it in the most important places!" After that, he stepped on the snow. Walk towards the bridge. The Duan family and his wife stood at the door to see each other off. The old man had just stepped onto the small wooden bridge when his foot slipped, the bridge board broke, and the old man fell into the lake.

The couple hurriedly ran to rescue them, and suddenly saw the white-haired old man standing on the lake, as if walking on flat ground, smiling and waving to them, and drifted away.

Only then did the Duan family realize that the white-haired old man was not a mortal. Thinking of the old man's parting words, he used the money to build a tall bluestone arch bridge at the original small wooden bridge, and also built a pavilion at the head of the bridge.

From now on, people who travel to the West Lake are no longer afraid of slippery roads and broken bridges. The villagers remembered the good deeds of the Duan family and the couple in building the bridge, so they called the bridge Duanjia Bridge. Later, because "Duan" and "Duan" have the same pronunciation, it was called Broken Bridge. Extended information

Main attractions of West Lake:

1. Broken Bridge

The Broken Bridge of West Lake is located at the watershed point between Beili Lake and Waixi Lake in Hangzhou, with one end spanning Beishan Road, the other end is connected to Baidi. It is said that the broken bridge was built as early as the Tang Dynasty. It was called Baoyou Bridge in the Song Dynasty and Duanjiaqiao in the Yuan Dynasty. The name of Broken Bridge comes from the Tang Dynasty. The origin of its name is that it is said that the road to Gushan ends here, hence the name; another is that Duanjiaqiao is simply called Duanqiao, which is homophonic for Broken Bridge. There is a stele pavilion in the northeast of the bridge, and a stele "Broken Bridge Remaining Snow" is erected inside.

2. Leifeng Pagoda

Leifeng Pagoda, also known as Huangfei Pagoda and Xiguan Brick Pagoda, is located on the Leifeng Peak of Xizhao Mountain on the south bank of the West Lake. Leifeng Pagoda was first built in 977. It was built by Qian Hongchu, King Zhongyi of Wuyue, to enshrine the Buddha's snail hair relics.

Because the time when the pagoda was built coincided with the Northern Song Dynasty’s posthumous title of Qian Hongchu’s recently deceased wife Sun as “Emperor Concubine”, it was named “Emperor Concubine Tower”. Later, because the mountain peak it was located on was called "Leifeng", it was gradually called "Leifeng Pagoda".

3. Sudi Causeway When Zhizhou was established, the West Lake was dredged and constructed using the excavated mud. Later generations named it Su Causeway in commemoration of Su Dongpo's restoration of the West Lake. Six single-hole stone arch bridges were built along the causeway: Yingbo, Suolan, Wangshan, Yadi, Dongpu and Kuaihong.