Tongji Lake

Tongji Lake

The Tongji Lake Scenic Area is located 3 kilometers west of Pujiang County, on the upper reaches of the Puyang River, nestled between the central and southern mountain ranges of Pujiang. Covering an area of 6 square kilometers, the scenic zone features over 10 attractions. Tongji Lake (Tongji Bridge Reservoir) has a water storage capacity of 58 million cubic meters and a water surface area of 5 square kilometers. The lake contains six islands and dozens of peninsulas, offering picturesque scenery and is known as the "Hundred Islands Lake." On the northern foothills of Maoping Mountain to the north of the lake lies the tomb of Wu Wei, a renowned modern painter (1900–1977), who excelled in poetry, calligraphy, painting, and seal carving, and was a pivotal figure in the continuation and development of the "Zhejiang School of Painting." To the south of the lake is Four Golden Mountains, traditionally believed to embody the five elements—metal, wood, fire, and earth. Since the Song Dynasty, this area has enjoyed a flourishing literary culture and produced many notable figures. During the Qing Dynasty and earlier, there was Wu Wei, who founded the influential Yuquan Poetry Society that gained fame across the southeast; Wu Zhi Fang, who was regarded alongside Zhao Mengfu as a distinguished scholar-official of the Yuan Dynasty’s Jixian Academy; Wu Lai, a renowned Confucian scholar of his time with profound knowledge of classics and history; and Wu Fenglai, an ambitious scholar who passed three levels of the imperial examination within eight months, leaping from a student to a Jinshi (advanced scholar).

In more recent times, the area continued to produce exceptional talents, such as Wu Shihuai, Wu Shishou, Wu Shiliang, Wu Wei, and Wu Shanming, all of whom achieved distinction in their respective fields and contributed to the region's reputation as the "Home of Calligraphy," renowned both in China and abroad. To the east of the lake rises the precipitous Bao’an Mountain, surrounded by gnarled pines resembling coiled dragons. With a cliff face 313 meters high, the summit offers a flat plateau. To the southwest stands the Dongyan Temple. From the mountaintop, one can enjoy panoramic views of the reservoir and, to the northeast, a view of the entire Pujiang urban area. At the entrance of Yangtian Village, just below the dam, grows a centuries-old camphor tree with a history of over 1,380 years, a trunk diameter of 3 meters, a height of 7 meters, and a canopy covering over a thousand square meters—revered locally as the “King of Trees.” With the deepening of reform and opening-up, the economy around Tongji Lake has seen continuous development. Today, the lake serves as an ideal destination for sightseeing, water recreation, leisure fishing, summer retreats, and convalescence.