West Lake, Guangdong, China

5Frank L 5:00 PM Aug 1, 2017

Beautiful West Lake
It's a.beautiful place to spend in the afternoon. Very.nice place, good scenery. You can find a lot of local people spending time here.

4SOH KIEN PENG 5:00 PM Oct 28, 2018

A lake of history and culture
West Lake was the first Chaozhou attraction I saw when the bus from the bullet train station drove me into the city of Chaozhou. The simmering picturesque lake studded with few striking yellow colored paddling boats captivated my attention and from afar, I could see her name (潮州西湖) on the front entrance vividly clear from the main road when the bus passed by. I subsequently alighted at the Arch Street (牌坊街) and walked my way to the lake. Chaozhou city is very walkable with many attractions concentrated at the area between the Arch Street and the West Lake. There are trickshaws and buggies to be rented to bring you around if you don't feel like walking. It is rather relax exploring from the Arch Street and slowly walked your way to West Lake. Along the way, enjoy the fun of tasting the many Chaozhou delicacies on both sides of the Arch Street, admiring the architectural beauty of the many ancient houses and shops and observed the livelihood of the ordinary folks of the `Teochew nan' (Chaozhou people). The entrance into the West Lake is free. The Lake is not as big as the West Lake in Hangzhou but the environment is equally peaceful and serene. There are many such lakes in China and it did not appeal to me as an extraordinary attraction after having been to many such `West Lake' in other parts of China. The lake has suffered much in her history. It was destroyed during the Mongol invasion and rebuilt. It occupied quite a sizeable area but during the Ming dynasty, half of the lakes was filled with stones to make space for the construction of the city fortress wall. It was devastated when fighting between the Qing army and the rebels erupted in Chaozhou. During the Republic of China period, the warlord appropriated this lake as part of his private garden park. The Hanbi Pavilion (涵碧楼) located in the central of the lake was constructed in 1922. It became an office for Zhou En Lai when he successfully led the Eastern Expedition to eradicate the warlord in this region in 1925. During the split with the Kuomintang, he led a communist uprising in Nanchang to occupy the Choashan region. Zhou delivered his revolutionary speech to the masses at this pavilion when his forces occupied Chaoshan for 7 days. Unfortunately, the Kuomintang army retook control of the city and the reforms implemented by Zhou En Lai in the Chaoshan region only lasted for 7 days. Historians named this period as the `Chaoshan 7th day Red' The large photo of Zhou En Lai was displayed at the museum hall in the pavilion. Due to his contributions towards the liberation of Chaozhou from the warlords and the Kuomintang, Zhou was well-respected as the great revolutionary hero of the Chaozhou people. The sculpture of Commander Zhou En Lai in army uniform stands robustly outside the Hanbi Pavilion. There is also a small hill at the back of this lake and I strolled my way up to find a Buddhist temple and some wall calligraphy engravings but nothing much. Nevertheless, it is fascinating to look at the rich heritage history of this West Lake as it forms an indispensable part of the worthwhile exploration journey to discover the gems of this ancient city of Chaozhou.