words

chapter fourteen @ 2004 January

new west lake - west line

For hundreds of years, West Lake was crossed by two causeways - Bai Di on the north side of the lake and Su Di running from the north to the south side of the lake. Su Di was built by the well-known poet, Su Dongpo, who served as an administrator in Hangzhou for some years.

While work was progressing on Hubin Lu on the east side of the lake, the less populated, rural west side of the lake was also undergoing a face-lift (complete, as well, with the ubiquitous blue fencing hiding the ongoing work). The plan on this side of the lake was to try to reconstruct the area as it had been 150 years earlier. This meant flooding areas that in more recent times, had been reclaimed by farmers for planting rice and other crops. The farmers were moved out, and what had once been the western lakeside road (Xi Shan Lu) was reconstructed with a series of arched bridges and a new causeway, named Yang Gong Di, created. It runs parallel to the old Su Di Causeway but lying a few hundred meters further west. The lake area was increased.

Here's a couple of maps which show the pre-Oct. 1st lake area and the situation now.
(Click to see a larger version)

Old Hangzhou Maps
(Courtesy of Andrea)

Post Oct. 1st, 2003 West Lake

Here's a few snaps from the new Yang Gong Di - the bottom, ones were taken from a moving taxi. Also a 30 second video (also taken from a taxi).