Photo by Zhou Tuying, West Lake Scenic Area
In order to further deepen the article of “beautiful mountains and clear waters” and further expand and rejuvenate the “underwater forest”, the West Lake Scenic Area strengthens the research on the varieties of aquatic plants and enhances their self-reproduction ability; Further optimize the fish population in the West Lake. At the same time, do a good job in the articles on mountain forests, make use of the advantages of the East China Germplasm Resource Bank, strengthen the colorization and biodiversity protection of the West Lake mountains, and let citizens and tourists have more sense of gain and happiness.
In the next step, the West Lake Scenic Area will, as always, do a good job in the “five articles” on protection, management, research, utilization and people’s livelihood, better benefit the general public and tourists, and make contributions to the “two pioneers” in Zhejiang.
Culture is the core.
Digging Deep into the Historical and Cultural Connotation of West Lake
When you come to Hangzhou, “punching in” the West Lake is a must. One lake for a thousand years, the cultural landscape of the West Lake, with the Millennium culture as the core, is full of endless stories.
The West Lake Scenic Area has always adhered to the principle of “keeping integrity and innovation”, putting protection first, inheriting the world heritage value of the West Lake, focusing on spiritual richness and cultural co-prosperity, laying a good foundation for heritage, song rhyme, love and displaying “four cards”.
The first “Heritage Card”: In recent years, the West Lake Scenic Area has continuously protected a large number of key cultural relics, such as the Baojiao Pagoda, Yuewang Temple, Ancestral Hall of Yu Qian, etc., and led the establishment of the World Heritage Protection Alliance in the Yangtze River Delta, and conducted exchanges with world heritage sites such as Dunhuang in China, Beijing, the ancient city of Verona in Italy abroad, and the broken bridge in Avignon, France. At present, archaeology such as Shenni Tower and Yanxia Cave is being carried out, and new technologies such as three-dimensional scanning are used to digitally protect cultural relics, so as to explore and explain the value and connotation of the world heritage.
The second “Song Yun Brand”: the West Lake Scenic Area started the archaeological exploration of the core block of the Imperial City Site in the Southern Song Dynasty, and protected and upgraded the Shengguo Temple Site in the “Back Garden”, and also upgraded the Su Dongpo Memorial Hall and King Qian’s Memorial. Focus on combing the cliff stone carvings of Song Yun culture such as Feilaifeng Grottoes, and launch Song Yun theme activities such as Mid-Autumn Festival Yue Bai and Baguatian Royal Land Ritual. At the same time, we will create a rich atmosphere of Song rhyme around the West Lake, and the next step will be to build a Song rhyme cultural exhibition center.
The third “Love Card”: West Lake Scenic Area took the lead in carrying out cultural exchanges and “China-Italy” Love Culture Week activities with Verona, Italy, and promoted the creation of a world love culture park. At present, the “Love Poetry Road” area has been upgraded, the He Wansong Academy’s blind date square in Changqiao Park has been upgraded, and the Yuhuangshan Campus of Hangzhou Normal University and the Changqiaoxi upgrading project are being promoted in an orderly manner. The love culture of West Lake is gradually becoming an important position for Hangzhou’s cultural export and foreign cultural exchange.
The fourth “display card”: In recent years, the West Lake Scenic Area has built the Hangzhou Railway Educated Youth Memorial Hall and the Hangzhou Literature and History Museum, comprehensively upgraded the China Tea Museum and other museums, and launched no less than 30 fine exhibitions every year. This year, it also launched thematic exhibitions such as the archaeological achievements of the Six Mausoleums of Song Dynasty and the Millennium of Song Yun. The West Lake Museum and China Tea Museum have been upgraded to national first-class museums. In addition, the scenic spot also tells good historical stories from a new perspective of contemporary people, such as the newly released “The Story of Feilaifeng Let Me Speak”, which further enriches the spiritual life of citizens and tourists.
Ecological management
Share the protection achievements of harmonious symbiosis between man and nature
The West Lake is the “root” and “soul” of Hangzhou. How to protect this precious pearl and make the achievements of protection and utilization of the West Lake better integrate into people’s lives, Hangzhou has made great efforts.
In recent years, based on the superior platform and professional strength, Xixi Scenic Area of West Lake has carried out a systematic survey of six categories of biodiversity, and conducted a total of 225 surveys. A total of 1,223 species of terrestrial higher plants, 238 species of terrestrial vertebrates, 250 species of aquatic organisms, 77 species of macrofungi, 1,353 species of insects, 770 species of terrestrial higher plants, 161 species of terrestrial vertebrates, 41 species of macrofungi and 10,400 species of insects were investigated in Xixi Wetland. Relying on scientific research platforms such as Hangzhou Botanical Garden, we have continuously introduced, researched and propagated rare and endangered animals and plants, successively introduced more than 40 rare and endangered plants, and bred nearly 6,000 rare and endangered plants.
In Xixi Wetland, the conservation regression test of rare and endangered animals such as crested ibis was successfully carried out, which promoted the field population reconstruction of rare and endangered birds in the province. At present, 186 species of rare and endangered plants have been collected and preserved.
When I came to Maojiabu, in the clear bottom of the lake, bitter weeds, Myriophyllum, black algae, Ceratophyllum and fancao were flourishing and swaying, and little fish swam around, which was a vibrant scene. This is the famous “underwater forest” of the West Lake. The scenic spot uses engineering means to optimize the combination of various animals, plants and microorganisms, and by creating suitable conditions, let them evolve under the laws of nature and restore a healthy and natural ecosystem. This is the “secret” of the ecological restoration of the West Lake.
At present, the area of “underwater forest” in West Lake exceeds 300,000 square meters. In 2022, nearly 10,000 square meters of submerged plants such as Sophora alopecuroides were expanded in Maojiabu, Changqiao and other lake areas, and the “underwater forest” of the West Lake became more and more lush.
The “underwater forest” of the West Lake can not only fix the silt at the bottom of the lake, but also absorb the rich nutrients in the lake, improve the dissolved oxygen and transparency of the water body, and provide habitats for all kinds of creatures growing in the water. At present, the water quality of the West Lake has reached Class III, and the average transparency of the water body has increased from about 40 cm to the current 85 cm, even reaching 200 cm in Xiaonan Lake and other areas.
In the next step, the scenic spot will plan and develop according to higher standards and the latest requirements, stand at the height of harmonious coexistence between man and nature, continue to build an “underwater forest”, do a good job in surrounding pollution control, and do a good job in green and low-carbon travel to maintain the stability of the water quality of the West Lake and build a benchmark for the management of urban lakes nationwide; Strengthen the research and application of biodiversity protection, create a habitat with beautiful environment and ecological stability, so that citizens and tourists can feel different ecological beauty in different seasons and have a sense of happiness in poetic habitation.
More importantly, we should inherit the concept of “harmony between man and nature” in the West Lake, spread cultural self-confidence in depth, and make the West Lake a platform for improving people’s literacy. At the same time, the scenic spot will further enrich the platform for co-construction and sharing, so that more citizens and tourists can participate in the protection and high-quality development of the West Lake in the whole process, so that the “pearl of the world” of the West Lake will always be dazzling and universally shared.
(Weng Wenjie, Party Secretary and Director of Hangzhou West Lake Scenic Area Management Committee)
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