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The largest isle in the West Lake, It is also called
the Lesser Yingzhou Isle, the namesake after a legendary Islet in
the depth of the Eastern China Sea. The isle is elegant, harmonizing
nature and man-made landscape. The isle is one of the top ten Westlake
Scenic attractions for centuries.
The beauty of the scenic spot is the moon in the sky, in the water
and in the heart of onlookers. The three stone miniature pagodas
standing in the lake off the isle are presumably the best place
for moon viewing. These pagodas produce many magic views of the
moon in the water, making people nostalgic and reminiscent of the
woebegone days and happy moments in the past. On the night of the
Autumn Moon Festival, the isle and its three miniature pagodas are
the best attraction for moon spectators.
Originally, the isle was merely a Buddhist monastery by the name
of Baoning Temple in the lake in the Wu Kingdom and Yue Kingdom
period. In the Ming Dynasty, a dike was built around the temple
site, making an inner circular lake between the temple and the dike.
The Lesser Yingzhou Isle as we see today is the result of a big
refurbishing project around the end of the Qing Dynasty.
The largest of the three artificial islands on West Lake, the isle
covers an area of 7000 square meters. The island with its inside
lake is crisscrossed with many zigzagging bridges; a causeway that
spans from west to east; the heavenly lights and clouds reflections
in the glass-like water can been seen together with flowers in blossom.
Trees stand here and there, birds and fish enjoy themselves in different
spaces. Pavilions vanish into nothingness at a distance; bridges
allow tourists to view the scenery from different angles with the
wonderful result of a different scene for each step.
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