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Towns immersed in history
By Han Jing |
March 16, 2011, Wednesday
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THE Thousand Islands Lake is man-made, and below the surface a wealth of ancient sunken treasures are lurking. Han Jing looks a little deeper.
Dreamy underwater palaces don't appear to be out of reach in fairy tales. But you may be fascinated to learn that real thousand-year-old ancient towns remain nearly intact several meters under the Thousand Islands Lake, or Qiandao Lake, in east China's Zhejiang Province.
The two ancient towns of Lion and He, located at Maotoujian waters in the southwest of the well-known scenic lake, act like a time capsule preserving frozen moments in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.
In January, the government of Zhejiang Province included the ancient towns under the Thousand Islands Lake in Chun'an County in its sixth cultural relics protection list at provincial level.
The Thousand Islands Lake, with 1,078 islands in total, is a young lake formed in 1959 when the ancient towns were drowned as a result of the construction of Xin'anjiang Hydroelectric Power Station, the largest water conservancy project at that time.
The construction of these two ancient towns started between Han (206 BC-AD 220) and Tang (AD 618-907) dynasties. In 1959, they were drowned together with another 27 towns, 1,377 villages, almost 50,000 acres of farmland and thousands of residential homes. About 290,000 people were relocated for the project. The towns of Chun'an and Sui'an combined into a bigger one, the current Chun'an County.
Chun'an Ancient Town, also named He Town, was established in AD 208 as a business hub along the Xin'anjiang River. Lion Town, a major town in the west of Zhejiang Province, leans against Five Lions Mountain in Sui'an County set up in AD 621, hence its name. The town is home to a variety of ancient pagodas, memorial arches, Town God's Temple, academies and tombs built during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
"In view of my seven or eight years of diving experience, the towns under the Thousand Islands Lake are the most charming. Every time I swam into the ancient towns I saw delicate carved beams, painted rafters and massive brick walls, as if I had stepped into a costume drama," said Liu Jinyong, manager of the Zhejiang branch of the Beijing-based Longyuan Ocean Diving Club participating in the exploration of the underwater towns.
"The department of cultural relics protection will base the value of ancient architecture on its amount, layout and local residents' lifestyle," said Fang Minghua, deputy director of the Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Press and Publication in Chun'an County and once the chief of the county's cultural relics protection administration.
When speaking of the dilemma between preservation and development, he said, "We protect the cultural relics in order to benefit from them whether in education, economy or history research fields. Subject to the lack of advanced technology to preserve the relics soaked in water for a long period back in normal conditions, the best protection strategy turns out to be keeping the underwater towns untouched. It's too early to talk about further development."
He also suggested that sailing, fishing and dredging be banned within the boundary of ancient towns in a bid to protect the underwater dreamland.
Dreamy underwater palaces don't appear to be out of reach in fairy tales. But you may be fascinated to learn that real thousand-year-old ancient towns remain nearly intact several meters under the Thousand Islands Lake, or Qiandao Lake, in east China's Zhejiang Province.
The two ancient towns of Lion and He, located at Maotoujian waters in the southwest of the well-known scenic lake, act like a time capsule preserving frozen moments in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.
In January, the government of Zhejiang Province included the ancient towns under the Thousand Islands Lake in Chun'an County in its sixth cultural relics protection list at provincial level.
The Thousand Islands Lake, with 1,078 islands in total, is a young lake formed in 1959 when the ancient towns were drowned as a result of the construction of Xin'anjiang Hydroelectric Power Station, the largest water conservancy project at that time.
The construction of these two ancient towns started between Han (206 BC-AD 220) and Tang (AD 618-907) dynasties. In 1959, they were drowned together with another 27 towns, 1,377 villages, almost 50,000 acres of farmland and thousands of residential homes. About 290,000 people were relocated for the project. The towns of Chun'an and Sui'an combined into a bigger one, the current Chun'an County.
Chun'an Ancient Town, also named He Town, was established in AD 208 as a business hub along the Xin'anjiang River. Lion Town, a major town in the west of Zhejiang Province, leans against Five Lions Mountain in Sui'an County set up in AD 621, hence its name. The town is home to a variety of ancient pagodas, memorial arches, Town God's Temple, academies and tombs built during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
"In view of my seven or eight years of diving experience, the towns under the Thousand Islands Lake are the most charming. Every time I swam into the ancient towns I saw delicate carved beams, painted rafters and massive brick walls, as if I had stepped into a costume drama," said Liu Jinyong, manager of the Zhejiang branch of the Beijing-based Longyuan Ocean Diving Club participating in the exploration of the underwater towns.
"The department of cultural relics protection will base the value of ancient architecture on its amount, layout and local residents' lifestyle," said Fang Minghua, deputy director of the Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Press and Publication in Chun'an County and once the chief of the county's cultural relics protection administration.
When speaking of the dilemma between preservation and development, he said, "We protect the cultural relics in order to benefit from them whether in education, economy or history research fields. Subject to the lack of advanced technology to preserve the relics soaked in water for a long period back in normal conditions, the best protection strategy turns out to be keeping the underwater towns untouched. It's too early to talk about further development."
He also suggested that sailing, fishing and dredging be banned within the boundary of ancient towns in a bid to protect the underwater dreamland.
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