 | This page is related to the 2012 NNU Class Project, an article creation project involving students from Nanjing Normal University, China |
Xuanwu Lake in Nanjing
Xuanwu Lake 玄武湖is located outside of the north-east city wall in Nanjing. The lake shapes like a rhombus, covering an area of 437 hectars. The lake is about 2 kilometers long from east to west, and 2.4 kilometers wide in south-north direction. It is divided into three parts——North Lake 北湖, South-east Lake 东南湖 and South-west Lake 西南湖. The lake is formed of clay mostly consisting of small pallet. Actually, the lake wasn't named Xuanwu at first. It was called Sangbo 桑泊 in ancient times and then was called Hou Lake 后湖 or Bei Lake 北湖. Now,it is known as Xuanwu Lake. Moreover, "Xuanwu" refers to "The god of the north" which is one of the four gods in the Chinese myth. Xuanwu Lake is famous for its rare landscape of geology and good conditions of vegetation. There are five oases separately forming into five scenic spots——Huanzhou 环洲, Yingzhou 樱洲, Lingzhou 菱洲, Liangzhou 梁州 and Cuizhou 翠洲. Xuanwu Lake not only presents the beautiful scenery, but also provides many entertainment activities like drifting, fishing, bonfire party and so on. Xuanwu Lake is so well-known that attracts a lot of visitors even including some state leaders of the nation. Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and even chairpersons of foreign countries all have ever visited it. Xuanwu Lake is really wonderful and it deserves your favor.