Xixi National Wetland Park
Xixi National Wetland Park (Chinese: 西溪国家湿地公园) is a national wetland park in China, located at the western part of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, and has a total size of 1,150 hectares (2,800 acres). The park consists of six main watercourses, among which are scattered with various ponds, lakes, and swamps.
| Xixi National Wetland Park | |
|---|---|
| 西溪国家湿地公园 | |
 Xixi National Wetland Park | |
  Map of China | |
| Location | Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China |
| Coordinates | 30°16′14″N 120°03′45″E |
| Area | 1,150 hectares (2,800 acres) |
| Established | 2005 |
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XiXi Wetland has a history of more than 4000 years and an abundant cultural heritage. It is the original site of the Chinese South Opera, has a traditional dragon boat contest, and it contains the vivid life of a water village, featuring silkworm feeding and silk production.
History
Xixi Wetland Park has a six-staged history from Liangzhu Culture to the Republic of China.
Liangzhu Culture
During the Liangzhu Culture period, Xixi Wetland has its starting shape. Much of the land in the Liangzhu Culture period is gone today. The area of Laohe Mountain was also included in Xixi Wetland.
Han and Tang dynasties
During the Han and Tang dynasties, early settlements started to appear around Xixi Wetland. People named their village "Tang Village". In the Five Dynasty, there were garrisons set around Xixi Wetland.
Song and Yuan dynasties
During Song and Yuan dynasties, Xixi Wetland had a huge development. In the Southern Song dynasty, the emperor Gaozong Song adored Xixi Wetland and wanted to set it as the capital place. There was a royal river road for Gaozong Song in Xixi Wetland, and transformed to become an important transportation river and a military area.
Ming and Qing dynasties
The local government started to regulate floods. Citizens fed silkworms on land and faster fish in the river. The beauty of the land and rivers attracted many artists to write poems and paint.
Republic of China and People's Republic of China
In 2002, Xixi Wetland was assigned to Hangzhou and to Xihu District. With the growth of industrialization, factories also moved in, which caused contamination within the Xixi Wetland. In August 2003, the protection project for Xixi Wetland started to preserve the wildlife and sights in Xixi Wetland, and it became the first national wetland park in China.
The sights
| Area | Description |
|---|---|
| Hazy Fisher Village | Most notable for the scenery of willows, haze, mist and smoke from kitchen chimneys. |
| Anchorage Thatching | Seems like an island floating on water—it's the origin of the name Anchorage. |
| Autumn Snow Temple | Gains its reputation from white bulrush flowers, which blossom in winter and dance in the sky, similar to snow in winter. |
| Deep Pool Mouth | Can only be reached by boat, and is the site of the annual dragon boat contest. |
| XiXi Thatching | Was once famous collector Fen Mengzhen's second house in the late Ming dynasty, recording the artistic life of “lying on water and tasting tea”. |
| XiXi Plum Villa | Has a taste of eremitic sentiment, because the plum is the symbol of the hermit in Chinese culture. |
| Plum and Bamboo Manor | Is concealed in the plum and bamboo bosks, where poets met in the Qing dynasty. |
| XiXi Water Attic | Is the place for collecting books and reading; divided into two parts called the “Blue Brook Study” (west) and the “Book Possession” (east). |
Wildlife
Xixi Wetland is honored as "The Green Lung in Paradise". There are 221 species, 182 genera, 85 families of vascular plants, 7 phytoplankton, and 6 vegetation types. There are 2802 old persimmon trees. The bird resources in the wetland are also extremely rich, with 89 species, 12 orders, and 26 families, accounting for nearly 50% of all birds in Hangzhou.
Typical birds are little egrets, wild geese, common kingfishers, mallard ducks, and silver pheasants.
Aquatic animals are carp, chub, shrimp, eel, and crab.
Some of the vegetation includes persimmons, willows, camphors, bamboo trees, mulberries, plums, peaches, elms, nelumbos, maples, poplars, and hibiscuses.
Cultural contribution
Literature
Hong Zhong is a famous judge in the Ming Dynasty. He built a large courtyard that consists of messuages, parks, and colleges called "Hong Zhong Bie Ye" in the Xixi wetland area. This massive aristocratic residence is one of the primary forms of the Grand View Garden in one of the four classic novels of Chinese Literature "Hong Lou Meng."
Village
Xixi Wetland also has a non-material cultural heritage by preserving Chinese culture in these four ancient villages: the Xixi Cultivate Cultural village, Wu Chang Cultural Village, Xixi Art Village, and the Xixi citizen Village.
Festivals
There are five traditional festivals in Xixi Wetland Park.
- New Year Wintersweet Festival: From the Song dynasty, the wintersweet is one of the famous flowers in Xixi Wetland, and there are hundreds of poems praising the wintersweet in Xixi. In the Qing dynasty, the poet Gong Zi Zhen praised Xixi Wintersweet as "one of the three best wintersweet in South China".
- Xixi Hundred Flower Festival: This festival started in the Ming dynasty, as the old government deems the day as the birthday of all flowers. People build sculptures made of flowers to celebrate the flowers' birthday every April.
- Xixi Dragon Boat Festival: Dragon Boat competition starts in the South Song dynasty to develop people's teamwork and the spirit of solidarity. 2008, the dragon boat festival starts in Xixi Wetland Park; people gather to compete and celebrate the Duan Wu Festival every June.
- Persimmons Festival: From the Song dynasty, Xixi Wetland started to plant persimmon trees. Currently, there are 15,000 persimmon trees, and more than 4000 of them have lived for more than a hundred years. The emperor Qian Long in the Qing Dynasty loved eating persimmons in Xixi Wetland and set this festival. As tradition, every September, people pick persimmons and enjoy the beauty of Xixi Wetland.
- Reed Festival: The reed in Xixi Wetland is one of the three most beautiful in Hangzhou. In fall, the reed sea in the river swing in the wind. When you take a boat, the reed will be everywhere around you. The setting sun and reed make a beautiful scene. Every November, people will take a boat and enjoy the beauty of the reeds in Xixi.
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