| Yueyang
is located beside Dongting Lake on the southern bank of
the Yangtze River in the northeast section of Hunan Province.
The two-thousand-year-old city has now become a developing
industrial city and an important port for both water and
land transportation.
Yueyang
Tower
Built
over the west city gate of Yueyang, this tower overlooks
the Yangtze River and Dongting Lake. It is one of China's
"three great towers south of the Yangtze River."
During the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280), it was used
as a reviewing stand by General Lu Su of the State of
Wu when he trained his navy. But it was Fan Zhongyan (989-1052),
a noted scholar of the Song dynasty, who made the building
famous when he wrote his masterpiece, Notes on Yueyang
Tower. The three-level wooden structure is almost twenty
meters high, with upturned eaves. At each side of the
tower, there is an elegantly structured pavilion one
is called Drunk Three Times Pavilion (Sanzuiting) and
the other Celestial plums Pavilion (Xianmeiting).
Dongting
Lake
Occupying
an area of 3,900 square kilometers southwest of Yueyang,
Dongting is the second largest freshwater lake in China.
Boating excursions are available.
Junshan
Hill
This
picturesque hill with its seventy-two peaks rises in the
middle of Dongting Lake. Places for sightseeing include
the Two Imperial Concubines' Tombs (Erfeimu), Incense
Burner Hill (Xianglushan), the camping site of the peasant
uprising led by Yang Moli of the Northern Song Dynasty
(960-1127) and the water well of Liu Yi, a character in
a love story written during the Tang Dynasty. The hill
is covered by luxuriant bamboo groves and produces a high-quality
tea called Silver Needles of Junshan (Junshanyinzhen).
Tuanhu Lake
The lake, also known as Lotus Lake, isabout20kmaway from
Yueyang Proper and covers an area of 200 hectares. In
summer and autumn, the blossoms of the lotus appear among
the green leaves creating a beautiful sight and making
visitors not want to leave.
Memorial Temple of Qu Yuan
It was built in memory of Qu Yuan, a great patriotic poet
in ancient China. Feeling disappointed with saving the
country, he drowned himself in the Miluo River. The temple
is on the Yusishan Mountain in Miluo of Yueyang. The building,
made from wood and brick, is one story high with single
eaves. Poetry and proses grieving the death of Qu Yuan
are inscribed on the four stone walls. In the front hall
is a huge wooden board inscribed with The Biography of
Qu Yuan by Sima Qian.
|
