The Brief Introduction of Beihu Park

Beihu park is located in Chenzhou central urban area, which is from Guoqing road to Zhuyechong ( Wanhuachong ) on east-west direction and from Renmin road west to Chengui road on north-south direction. This 31.6-hectare big park was firstly built in 1975, 15.53hectares of which are water surface in the north area of the park. The water surface is clear as mirror and willows are planted in the banks of the lake. On night time, the moon reflected in the calm water which looks like a painting. “Beihu water and moon”which was one of the old eight scenic spots of Chenzhou city was named under this beautiful scenery. Beihu park followed the name as well.

1. Historical figures:

Beihu lake is famous as the “mother lake” of Chenzhou city which is one of the famous lakes of China. Liu Zongyuan, Li Jifu, Luo Yin and some other profound scholars of Tang Dynasty once visited there. Han Yu- a famous poet of ancient China often enjoyed his leisure time on rafting and finishing in the lake when he lived in Chenzhou city. Some famous poems recorded his happy time there. It was introduced that hundreds of spring openings are located in the bottom of the lake which help to gather so much clear water there, so Beihu lake was originally named as “Baihu” (means one hundred lake). Such pronunciation is similar as “Baifu” (means one hundred blessings) with localism. According to local history record, once a black dragon did evil in lake. One of the local strong men shifted to be a white dragon to fight for the black dragon and finally killed the black dragon. But the man was badly injured on the fighting and shifted to be a dragon cave to keep serving local people with clear water. The clear sky, bright moon and calm water surface enable Beihu lake to be especially beautiful. “Water and moon of Beihu lake” had been honored as one of the eight scenic spots of Chenyang since Song Dynasty.

In 2010, in order to improve the ecological environment and beatify people’s life, Chenzhou Municipal Party Committee and Chenzhou Government started the upgrading project of Beihu lake. Followed with the upgrading work handled out in the park, Beihu Park was recovered with new images to the public. Beihu poem wall, sculpture group of Chinese women volleyball team, spearing fish pavilion, Jinghan pavilion, surge view stand, blessing wall, and so on are available in Beihu Park now. It becomes a comprehensive park that people can enjoy culture, entertainment, fitness excises, leisure travel, and etc. there.

In future, Beihu Park would keep expanding the water surface area and greening lands area by taking the best advantages of water. It was aimed to improve Beihu Park to be top level urban garden of Hunan province, “hot spring lake” of China and famous lake of China by well playing Beihu lake’s advantageous resources.

2. Traffic and Geography

Beihu park is located in Chenzhou central urban area, which is from Guoqing road to Zhuyechong ( Wanhuachong ) on east-west direction and from Renmin road west to Chengui road on north-south direction. This 31.6-hectare big park was firstly built in 1975, 15.53hectares of which are water surface in the north area of the park. The water surface of Beihu Lake is 12hectares which is about 30% of the total area of Beihu Park. On night time, the moon reflected in the calm water which looks like a painting. “Beihu water and moon”which was one of the old eight scenic spots of Chenzhou city was named under this beautiful scenery.

3. Landscape features

“Beihu water and moon”which was one of the old eight scenic spots of Chenzhou city once attracted many poets and literary men. Han Yu- one of the most famous poets of Tang Dynasty was once by way of Chenzhou city for 8 times. The 21st year of Tangzhenyuan (AD805), Han Yu was dispatched to Chenzhou to wait for government’s instruction from Guangdong province, he enjoyed spearing fishes with Chenzhou governor- Li Bokang and figured out a famous poem. In order to memorize Han Yu, a pavilion named “spearing fish pavilion” was constructed in the center island of the lake. The poem was carved as an inscription there. Han Yu’s bronze statue was set in the park as well that people can come and memorize the ancient great poet. Another waterside pavilion was established opposite to the spearing fish pavilion in the center of the park. It was with the ancient pavilion’s appearance but followed with modern structure. The pavilion is above the water and the water is inside of the pavilion, such kind of unique feature attracts many visitors to enjoy their time there.