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Daming Lake

Location: located to the north of Minghu Road and to the south of the old city moat of Jinan

Ticket Price: 30 yuan

Daming Lake is the largest lake in the city of Jinan, Shandong, China and one of city`s main natural and cultural landmarks. Located to the north of the historical city center, the lake is fed by the artesian karst springs of the area and hence retains a fairly constant water level through the entire year.

History

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>Photo of Daming Lake from an early 20th-century postcard

As a central site in the historical center of Jinan, Daming Lake has been the setting of many events in the history of the city: As his rebellion against the Mongol ruler Kublai Khan came to an end in 1262, the governor Li Tan tried to drown himself in the lake. He was rescued by the Mongols in order to be executed by being put in a sack and trampled to death by horses. The warlord Zhang Zongchang, nicknamed the "Dogmeat General" and unpopular because of his heavy-handed rule, planned to erect a living shrine to himself on the lake, but the plans were not executed due to Zhang`s fall from power. During the Battle of Jinan in the Chinese Civil War, the commander of the city`s defense against the communist People`s Liberation Army, Kuomintang General Wang Yaowu had his command post near the lake shore.

From March 2006 to April 2007, the Daming Lake Park was renovated and extended to connect all portions of the park for unified access. To achieve this, 1788 housing units (including 1639 residential units) were demolished. Since the expansion, the Daming Lake Park covers a total of 103.4 hectares, 29.4 hectares (land: 20 hectares, lake 29.4 hectares) of which were added in the expansion.

Literature

Traditional Chinese painting: Daming Lake

The scenery of Daming Lake has been a topic of Chinese literature for at least about 1,500 years. The lake is mentioned in "Commentary on the Waterways Classic" by Northern Wei Dynasty writer and geographer Li Daoyuan (died 527). It is described in "A Trip to Jinan" by the Jin Dynasty poet Yuan Haowen (1235) and was also described by Marco Polo a bit later. The scenery of Daming Lake is also featured in the novel "The Travels of Lao Can" by Liu E and the essay "The Winter of Jinan"by Lao She. Daming Lake is also the subject of a poem by Han Fuju, military governor of Shandong from 1930 to 1938, that has been frequently quoted to ridicule him:

大明湖 明湖大
The Daming ("Daming" means "big brightness") Lake, the bright lake is big

大明湖里有荷花
In the Daming Lake are lotus flowers

荷花上头有蛤蟆
On the lotuses are toads

一戳一蹦达
Prick them once, leap once

Lacation in the map

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Picture enjoyment

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night scene

the lake in the morning

Lotus Flower Bud and Her Visitor

the whole scene

the lake in winter

the visitors

 
Date:2011-9-22 16:59:01     
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