China: Yangzhou – Slender West Lake

While Hangzhou has the grand West Lake, Yangzhou is famous for the Slender West Lake, a narrow waterway engineered as a continuous, unfolding Chinese scroll painting. Formed during the Qing Dynasty when wealthy salt merchants funded elaborate gardens to impress Emperor Qianlong during his southern tours, it blends the grandeur of northern imperial parks with the delicate poetic elegance of southern Suzhou-style architecture. The iconic structures along the water are masterpieces of ancient engineering – like the Five-Pavilion Bridge built in 1757 (considered the symbol of Yangzhou), or the White Pagoda, modeled after the famous Tibetan-style White Pagoda in Beijing’s Beihai Park. Just walking around the park is fantastic – lots of blooming trees and flowers, elaborately manicured gardens and passageways along weeping willows, classical pavilions, and colorful small bridges.