Middle-lake Island

 

 

Middle-lake Island (江心屿) had been a famous scenic spot in China since 1,500 years ago. At that time there was a saying that "Fog and rain in the Spring City, majestic pagodas and houses in the bamboo forest, moonlight on Oujiang River (瓯江), lights of fishing fire of Shading (沙丁渔火) and the ships returning from long ocean voyages" which were among the ancient scenes in old Wenzhou city. This middle lake island is laid on the water of Oujiang River.

It is said that in ancient times the area had been two towering peaks stood along the river banks that were facing one another. These peaks were actually river islands, in which there was a profound deep dragon pool between them. Later a master monk from Sichuan Province came here to preach Buddhism. He had traveled almost all famous Buddhist sacred mountains in China. His preaching attracted many followers here that the hilly area was very crowded. The King of the East China Sea saw the situation. He used his divine power to move the mountains and peaks and fill up the water pool. Also, a deep river bed was formed due to he moved the lithospheres, the portion that rose from the river bottom was the Middle-lake Island. The forming of the new land gave more space for the Buddhist followers. 

In recent years, because the work done for dredging up the waterway of Oujiang River, the dumped slit and mud were accumulated on the island, thus the area of it has been enlarged much. The shoal located at the northwest has become a leisure park.

 

Temples on Middle-lake Island

There are two treasure pagodas built on Middle-lake Island. One of them, East Pagoda was built in 869 AD, with a Buddhist temple called Longxiang (龙翔寺), which was constructed a hundred years later, as its base. You can command a great view of the sea on the top. The temple is now being Wenzhou Museum.

Middle-lake Temple is the most famous attraction on the island, built in the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 AD) and rebuilt in 1789. It is also known as Zhongchuan Temple (中川寺). The temple halls are grand and majestic. It is surrounded by old and tall trees.