Slender West Lake

瘦西湖

A garden complex built by Qing salt merchants, praised as having the finest gardens under heaven. The Five-Pavilion Bridge, White Dagoba and Twenty-Four Bridge stretch across the winding lake, making it Yangzhou's signature landmark.

Slender West Lake was originally a long, narrow waterway linking the moats and canals of the Sui and Tang city. During the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty, salt merchants competed to build gardens along the river to welcome the emperor's southern inspection tours, creating scenery described in the couplet 'Along both dikes, willows and flowers depend wholly on the water; along the whole path, pavilions reach all the way to the hills.' The Qing poet Wang Hang distinguished it from West Lake in Hangzhou with the character 'slender.' The scenic area stretches about 4 km from the South Gate to the North Gate. The main highlights, in order, are: Spring Willows on the Long Dike (peach and willow trees alternating, most beautiful in spring); Xu Garden; Little Golden Hill (climb to the top for a view over the whole lake); Fishing Terrace (framing the Five-Pavilion Bridge and White Dagoba through the round doorway is a classic composition); the Five-Pavilion Bridge (built in the 22nd year of the Qianlong reign, with five pavilions on top and fifteen arches below, and on Mid-Autumn nights each arch holds a moon); the White Dagoba (modeled on the White Dagoba in Beihai Park in Beijing, with a legend that it was built overnight); Xichun Terrace and the Twenty-Four Bridge (from Du Mu's line 'Twenty-four bridges on a bright moonlit night'); and Wanhua Garden and Stone Wall Stream. To tour it, walking the full route takes about 3–4 hours. You can also take a sculling boat or painted boat (about RMB 60–80 from the South Gate to the North Gate) to see the gardens from the water. The night light show 'Two Parts of Moonlight: Remembering Yangzhou' is worth seeing. It starts around 19:00 in peak season, with tickets sold separately. Admission is RMB 100 in peak season and RMB 60 in off-season, and combo tickets are available with Ge Garden, He Garden and other sites. Getting there: take bus routes Tour 1 or Tour 2 to the South Gate of Slender West Lake, or bike about 15 minutes from Dongguan Street. Note that on weekends during the March of mist and flowers, crowds are huge, so on weekdays enter right when the park opens in the morning. The North Gate exit connects to Daming Temple and Pingshan Hall, so you can visit them in one continuous route. There are few food options inside the park, so you can eat breakfast at Qu Garden outside the South Gate before going in.

Slender West Lake

Opening hours

Nearby sights

Places to eat nearby