Gantang Lake

Gantang Lake enhances the beauty of the ancient city Jiujiang. It is a natural lake, whose water comes from the spring on Lushan Mountain, and the most attractive place of interest in the city. Gantang Lake lies in the center of Jiujiang City and covers an area of about 80 hectares (approximately 956,823 square yards).

Gantang Lake was once called Jingxing Lake. In the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Jingxing Lake was bisected by a dike that was built to facilitate the transportation at that time. The divided lakes are now separately called South Lake in the east of the dike and Gantang Lake in the west. In the lake's center stands Yanshui Pavilion (Smoky Water Pavilion) connected by a crooked bridge to the bank. The Yanshui Pavilion is a series of buildings connected by corridors. These ancient buildings in the pavilion are Chuangting Hall, Cuichaoxian Pavillion, Yanhui Pavillion, Wuxian Pavilion, etc.

The lake is said to have been the military base of the Wu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms Period (220 - 280). On the island in the central lake was once located General Zhou Yu's training platform. Bai Juyi, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), started to build a pavilion on the platform during his commission period in Jiujiang and it was named 'Jinyue Pavilion'. In the Northern Song Dynasty (960 - 1127), it was changed to 'Yanshui Pavilion'. Though it was destroyed in the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), groups of buildings were erected continuously in later days. From the pavilion, you will see that Mt. Lushan is like a green screen around which the clouds are lingering. Surely you will be fascinated by the wonderful view.

From the dike, you can climb Yingyue Pavilion (Moon Reflection Pavilion). With a bird's eye view from the pavilion, you can see the green water rippling in the gentle breezes, rosy clouds reflected in the water and willow trees lining the lakeshore. It is a beautiful scene.In the vicinity of Gantang Lake, there are many hotels with good facilities, such as Yuanzhou International Hotel, Education Hotel, Jiujiang Hotel, etc.

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