Xishi Island in Liyuan Garden

Xishi Island in Liyuan Garden

Covering an area of 45 acres, Xishi Island consists of three smaller islands connected by corridors and footbridges, forming a “品”-shaped layout. It faces the Treasure Pavilion of Lakeside Hotel across the lake, borders Venice Garden to the south, and leans against Li Lake Bridge to the east. The island is designed based on historical accounts of Fan Li and Xishi’s retreat from public life, with its pavilions and structures all themed around this narrative. Major structures on the island include a boat pavilion, Tao Zhugong Mansion, performance exhibition hall, embroidery building, Yiguang Tea House, Three Ancestors Hall, and a boat dock. Through various forms of presentation, the island recreates the romantic love story of Fan Li and Xishi boating on Li Lake, as well as folk legends such as their teaching locals how to fish, grow bamboo, make pottery, and engage in trade.

Upon entering Xishi Village, visitors are captivated by this unique cultural landscape celebrating feminine beauty. In the introductory hall, the colors of the Spring and Autumn period come alive through projection murals and multimedia displays, transporting guests back 2,400 years. Moving to the stage, the performance of “The Laundry Maid” brings to life Xishi washing silk, immersing visitors in the scene. In the lotus pond in front of the stage, black-canopied boats shine alongside lotus-shaped lanterns symbolizing purity. Entering the inner courtyard, you’ll find an embroidery room, study, and main hall, where you can operate a spinning wheel, wash your face, gaze into a bronze mirror, read inscriptions about Xishi, and personally experience her “beautiful” way of life.

In addition, there is the Wangyue Pavilion for expressing homesickness, the Huanyu Platform to call upon “Xishi,” the Three Ancestors Hall, reception room, and “sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall” display in Tao Zhugong Mansion, a photo spot at the silk-washing site, the fragrant Beauty Spring at Yiguang Tea House, and the Li Lake scenery from the Shuixi Pavilion.