Three Pools Mirroring the Moon Travel Guide

Three Pools Mirroring the Moon is also named as Lesser Yingzhou which means the Fairy Islet.  It is one of eight fascinating scenery of Hangzhou West Lake.

This island was built in 1607 with dredges from the lake to create a lake within a lake initially. Afterwards, three small gourd- shaped pagodas were built in the south lake of the islet called three pools. At the beginning of Qing Dynasty, a general named Peng Yulin, after retiring from his official post, built for himself a garden villa on the island and then zigzag bridges, pavilions were added.

After you go ashore at the port located on the north of the islet, two buildings will meet your eye firstly. Then, you will walk along the zigzag bridge which is better known as the Nine Turn Bridge. There are total four pavilions along this bridge including the Open Net Pavilion, Tingting Pavilion, Emperor Kangxi Stele Pavilion and "Heart linking to - Heart".

Among the three islets in the lake, the Lesser Yingzhou is the biggest and finest one. And it is recommended as "The best scenic spot in West Lake". The islet covers an area of 7 hectares including the water surface and features a lake within an island and an island within a lake.