West Sea of Lushan Mountain (or Zhelin Lake)

( chinadaily.com.cn )

Updated: 2011-09-30

West Sea of Lushan Mountain covers an area of 680 square kilometers and consists of six scenic zones.

The West Sea of Lushan Mountain, or Zhelin Lake, is located in the northern part of Jiangxi province and sits on the west of Lushan Mountain. It is situated at the intersection of Nanchang, Wuhan, Changsha and Hefei, the four provincial capitals. The West Sea is 80 kilometers and 86 kilometers away from downtown Nanchang and downtown Jiujiang respectively.It was approved on December 31, 2005 by the State Council as one of the key national scenic spots.

West Sea of Lushan Mountain covers an area of 680 square kilometers and consists of six scenic zones. The water area of West Sea is 248.2 square kilometers, with a water capacity of 8 billion cubic meters, the average depth of 45 meters, visibility of 11 meters and 150,000 negative ion of oxygen per cubic meter in the air. The water and air quality meets the national first grade standard. The scenic spot, dotted with 1,667 islands covering more than 0.2 hectares and 997 islands more than 0.3 hectares.

There is a large number of historical sites in West Sea of Lushan Mountain scenic area, such as the Huangjing Waterfall, celestial burial tombs, fossil group of primitive jellyfish dating back to 650 million years, stone carvings by Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty during his tour to the south and the ancient cultural relics of the King of Wu in the Three Kingdoms period.

There are 997 islands scattering in the scenic zone.

Yunju Mountain has always enjoyed the reputation of small Lushan Mountain; it stands at 1,143 meters above seal level. Zhenru Temple, known as the "cradle of leaders of the Buddhist Association of China", is the birthplace of the Chinese Buddhism Caodong Clan. Listed as one of the three exemplary monasteries in 1988, Zhenru Temple is worshiped by domestic and foreign Buddhism disciples as the meditation center of the world.

The water quality meets China's first level.

Baihua Valley, the fairland on earth, boasts of more than 2,000 natural plants species. With the average temperature of only 22 ℃ in midsummer, it is truly a beautiful summer resort.

Taohua stream drift twists and turns throughout the valley from the 1,100 meters high Taohua Hill, situated on the north bank of West Sea.

The famous "Grandma Bridge” connects “Grandma Island” to “Peacock Island". "Grandma Bridge” is 138 meters long and two meters wide. It stands 12 meters above the water and is made up of 919 planks, it is so far the longest single cable bridge in Jiangxi province.

Water Margin Tourist Town is situated at No 70 Island of the lake with a total area of 4.3 hectares. It is a sightseeing spot built in accordance with Liangshan heroes' moving stories in China's classic book The Water Margin.

Yijiahe Hot Spring, located at the southern side of the lake, has a daily natural water yield of 60 cubic meters and a water temperature of 58.5 ℃ covering an area of 42 square meters. The hot spring serves as a recuperation place for the treatment of skin diseases, arthritis and the prevention of cardiovascular disease as well as physical therapy care.

West Sea of Lushan Mountain at sunset