Home
» City specials
» Hangzhou
Pagoda's Baoshi Hill offers precious sights and legend
By Zhang Qian |
February 26, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
BAOCHU Pagoda is one of Hangzhou's major landmarks but there is new appreciation of Baoshi Hill it stands on, associated legends and its views over West Lake, Zhang Qian reports.
Walking around West Lake and looking north, you can't miss the famous Baochu Pagoda on the hill, one of Hangzhou's landmarks. And the hill it stands on - "Baoshi Hill Floating in Rosy Clouds" - is one of the 10 new scenes of West Lake.
Baoshi (literally "precious stone") Hill is located in the north of West Lake and at only about 200 meters high it is small. The peak is easily reachable by most people, including children and the elderly.
Unlike the limestone found in most surrounding hills, the huge boulders scattered along its ridge are rhyolite and tuff rocks. Purple red or reddish brown, these weather-beaten rocks are inlaid with greenish elements which dazzle in the sun.
Legend has it that there used to be an old fairy living in the hill. When the Mid-Autumn Festival arrived, the fairy would rustle the trees on top of the mountain and precious stones would fall like rain, scattering around the area.
Local people would scamper to collect the booty the next morning. But one year a greedy official planned to pocket all the precious stones and sent guards to the hill the night before the festival. This irritated the fairy and she never provided the precious stones again.
Viewed from a distance, you may see the stones floating in rosy clouds over West Lake. There is a serene pleasure to be experienced in watching the sunrise over the sea through drifting clouds from the hilltop.
This view is embodied therefore in one of the 10 new scenes of West Lake - Baoshi Hill Floating in Rosy Clouds.
There are several ways to get to the top of the hill. As long as you keep walking up along the flagged path, you will find the way. And if you successfully reach the top and clamber up the giant rocks, you can see a perfect panoramic view of the complete West Lake.
Moving around the rocks, you will find the slim Baochu Pagoda on a platform. The 45-meter-high structure resembles a pretty girl standing slim and graceful.
Baochu Pagoda was first constructed in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) and has been destroyed and rebuilt several times throughout generations.
Tourists can still visit the grand, six-sided, seven-story brick structure. It was faithfully rebuilt in 1993 according to its last design in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
Lu Xun, a major Chinese writer of the 20th century, mistook "Baochu" as the original name of "Leifeng" pagoda in his work "Comments about the Collapse of Leifeng Pagoda."
But they were two completely different pagodas located on opposite banks of the lake. A Ming Dynasty poet commented in his poem that Baochu was like a beautiful girl while Leifeng looked like an old monk. The Baochu Pagoda is a solid structure that visitors can't enter. It is believed to have been first built for Qian Hongchu, the Wuyue King who was popular among local people during his reign.
The king was asked to meet the new emperor in Kaifeng, Henan Province. To pray for the safe return of Qian, the locals built the pagoda and named it "baochu," literally meaning to protect or pray for chu (the king).
It was rebuilt in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), Ming Dynasty and 1933. The decayed top was replaced in 1996. The original top is preserved near the pagoda so visitors can appreciate its heritage.
Walking around West Lake and looking north, you can't miss the famous Baochu Pagoda on the hill, one of Hangzhou's landmarks. And the hill it stands on - "Baoshi Hill Floating in Rosy Clouds" - is one of the 10 new scenes of West Lake.
Baoshi (literally "precious stone") Hill is located in the north of West Lake and at only about 200 meters high it is small. The peak is easily reachable by most people, including children and the elderly.
Unlike the limestone found in most surrounding hills, the huge boulders scattered along its ridge are rhyolite and tuff rocks. Purple red or reddish brown, these weather-beaten rocks are inlaid with greenish elements which dazzle in the sun.
Legend has it that there used to be an old fairy living in the hill. When the Mid-Autumn Festival arrived, the fairy would rustle the trees on top of the mountain and precious stones would fall like rain, scattering around the area.
Local people would scamper to collect the booty the next morning. But one year a greedy official planned to pocket all the precious stones and sent guards to the hill the night before the festival. This irritated the fairy and she never provided the precious stones again.
Viewed from a distance, you may see the stones floating in rosy clouds over West Lake. There is a serene pleasure to be experienced in watching the sunrise over the sea through drifting clouds from the hilltop.
This view is embodied therefore in one of the 10 new scenes of West Lake - Baoshi Hill Floating in Rosy Clouds.
There are several ways to get to the top of the hill. As long as you keep walking up along the flagged path, you will find the way. And if you successfully reach the top and clamber up the giant rocks, you can see a perfect panoramic view of the complete West Lake.
Moving around the rocks, you will find the slim Baochu Pagoda on a platform. The 45-meter-high structure resembles a pretty girl standing slim and graceful.
Baochu Pagoda was first constructed in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) and has been destroyed and rebuilt several times throughout generations.
Tourists can still visit the grand, six-sided, seven-story brick structure. It was faithfully rebuilt in 1993 according to its last design in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
Lu Xun, a major Chinese writer of the 20th century, mistook "Baochu" as the original name of "Leifeng" pagoda in his work "Comments about the Collapse of Leifeng Pagoda."
But they were two completely different pagodas located on opposite banks of the lake. A Ming Dynasty poet commented in his poem that Baochu was like a beautiful girl while Leifeng looked like an old monk. The Baochu Pagoda is a solid structure that visitors can't enter. It is believed to have been first built for Qian Hongchu, the Wuyue King who was popular among local people during his reign.
The king was asked to meet the new emperor in Kaifeng, Henan Province. To pray for the safe return of Qian, the locals built the pagoda and named it "baochu," literally meaning to protect or pray for chu (the king).
It was rebuilt in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), Ming Dynasty and 1933. The decayed top was replaced in 1996. The original top is preserved near the pagoda so visitors can appreciate its heritage.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
