China 2001 - Yueyang

Yueyang

Dongting Lake is currently the biggest freshwater lake in China. I say currently, because it will be dwarfed by the reservoir created by the Three Gorges Dam. "Hu" is Chinese for "lake" so Dongting Hu gives a name to two Chinese provinces: Hubei ("North of the lake") and Hunan ("South of the lake").

Yueyang is on the northern edge of Dongting lake. We take a short trip up the Xiang river to reach it.

	The port facilities for Yueyang (such as they are) are a couple of miles outside of town. The road between town and the port sees a lot of traffic and very little maintenance. Our bus has a similar history. It is a very exciting ride!
		Our first stop is at the Yueyang Tower. It is built without nails or foundations. The location, on the shore of Dongting lake, has inspired generations of Chinese poets.
		Inside is one of the poems associated with the tower. It is a poem that is memorized by generations of school children.
		The roof corners are decorated with roosters and bells. A fish tail shaped clapper makes the bell ring in the breezes off the lake.
		We go out into the streets of Yueyang and walk over to a gift shop where they tell us about the regional specialty: Silver Needle tea. Some short women of the Miao ethnic group show us their dress up costumes and perform a dance for us accompanying themselves on a musical instrument that I couldn't figure out how to play either. I got a movie of it. Click here to see it (625 KB download.)