Tianjing Lake Scenic Area

Tianjing Lake Scenic Area

Tianjing Lake Scenic Area is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction.

Located at the foot of Wusong Mountain in Tongling City, Anhui Province, Tianjing Lake spans eighty hectares and is embraced by surrounding hills, offering a charming blend of lake and mountain views. Two winding causeways divide the lake into East Lake, South Lake, and North Lake. The missing “Ancient Lake,” as the ancients playfully claimed, was moved to Hangzhou. Fed by springs above and connected to the Yangtze River below, the lake enjoys remarkably clear water. In the center of South Lake lies an island with a well whose water level consistently remains over two meters higher than the lake’s—rising and falling with the lake’s own tides—a remarkable phenomenon often cited to illustrate the saying “well water does not intrude upon river water.” Legend has it that the well’s water comes from the heavens and was once used by passing immortals for rest and tea, hence its name “Heavenly Well.” Later, a pavilion called “Sky-Connecting Pavilion” was built over the well to protect it.

Situated on the north side of Changjiang West Road, a major urban thoroughfare, Tianjing Lake is naturally divided into East Lake, South Lake, and North Lake by surrounding hills and causeways, with interconnected waters. It lies about 5 kilometers from Tongguan Mountain. Within the lake is a well described as “connecting to the heavens above and the seas below,” known as Tianjing (Heavenly Well). The lake takes its name from the well, and the park is named after the lake. The Heavenly Well is one of the great wonders within Tianjing Lake Park—an underground spring-fed pool that remains approximately two meters above the lake’s surface year-round.

There are also two beautiful and moving legends associated with the lake. One tells of a celestial thief who attempted to steal the guardian treasure of Tongguan Mountain. As his boat passed Tianjing Lake, he was discovered by the mountain’s guardian deity, who imitated a rooster’s crow. Hearing this, roosters across the land began to crow, prompting the thief to flee in panic. In his haste, he paddled so hard that he pierced the lakebed, creating the Heavenly Well. Another legend speaks of the youngest daughter of the Dragon King of the East Sea, who secretly left her underwater palace one day, avoided the oceans, traveled through Tianjing, and swam in the lake. There, she spotted a kind-hearted fisherman and fell in love. Transforming into a beautiful sea snail, she was caught in his net. Touched by her plight, the fisherman refused to sell her to buy rice for his blind mother-in-law, instead keeping her in a jar. From then on, their home was filled with unexplained wonders: the jar never ran out of rice, and firewood magically appeared in the hearth. No matter how late the fisherman worked, there was always hot food waiting. One day, returning unexpectedly at noon, he found a young, beautiful woman managing the household—the truth was revealed. Just as the loving couple enjoyed their happy life, the Dragon King sent a vicious dragon to find his daughter. Upon discovering the truth, the dragon forcibly tried to take her back. The dragon girl resisted fiercely. Enraged, the malicious dragon attempted to drain the lake and destroy the crops to capture her. She transformed into a giant sea snail and began sucking seawater up through the Heavenly Well, vowing, “I will not be a golden immortal of the heavens—I will protect the people’s life-giving spring.” Exhausted, she died and transformed into today’s Luosha Mountain, covered with evergreen pines and cypresses, located in the city.

At its founding, the park constructed the Heavenly Well around the spring, building up earth and stone to form Zhongzhou Island (with Nanzhou Island created as a complementary feature). Later, the Sky-Connecting Pavilion was built on Zhongzhou Island, directing well water through a dragon’s mouth into a small pool, which then dripped into the lake to demonstrate the difference in water levels.

The park covers an area of 1,646 mu, including 1,222 mu of lake surface, and is encircled by seven uniquely featured hills. Since opening in 1972, the park has successively developed over 30 recreational areas and scenic spots, including a children’s playground, roller skating rink, boat dock, Tianjing Tea House, Yiqin Garden, covered walkways and pavilions, zigzag bridges, the Sky-Connecting Pavilion, Valley Stele Forest, and Peony Garden. Enhanced by lighting projects and the decoration of lakeside viewing and promenade squares, the area presents a harmonious blend of majestic mountains and beautiful waters, where new sights and historic landmarks shine together. The area can be divided into eight major scenic zones, such as “Five Pines Victory Tour,” “Night Chants and Pestles,” “Wooden Fish and Red Scales,” and “Three Thousand Scrolls.” Among them, “Five Pines Victory Tour” extends from the park’s main gate to the zigzag bridge of South Lake. It is the largest land area, featuring the prominent Wusong Mountain, making it the park’s primary scenic zone.

The great Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai visited twice, lingering and composing poetry. He wrote 11 immortal verses praising Tongling, including lines such as: “I love Tongguan so, I vow to stay a thousand years. But first I’ll wave my sleeves and sweep away the Five Pines.” On his first visit, Li Bai built a study on Wusong Mountain where he read and stayed, known as the Five Pines Study Hall. Later, renowned Song Dynasty poets Su Shi and Huang Tingjian followed in his footsteps, traveling to the Five Pines, where they also built pavilions to compose poetry, known as the Su-Huang Poetry Pavilion. Subsequently, notable officials like Li Gang, famous poets such as Wang Shipeng and Lin Nan, as well as literati from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, all visited to pay homage at the Temple of Li Bai and compose poems commemorating the scenery. The Five Pines Study Hall was destroyed and rebuilt multiple times. It was reconstructed during the Song Dynasty and renamed the Temple of Li Taibai; it was renovated again in the Ming Dynasty and called the Taibai Study Hall. Due to the poetic charm of Tianjing Lake Park, the late renowned calligrapher and former Chairman of the Anhui Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Zhang Kaifan, once inscribed: “Willows line the causeways in countless numbers, beyond the mountains are more mountains, beyond the lake are more lakes. All the scenery before one’s eyes is like a painted scroll—Tongling is surely no less beautiful than Suzhou.”