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Lying at the foot of Sleeping Dragon Hill (Wolongshan) in the northwestern part of Fuzhou City, West Lake has been a scenic spot since the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
Three small islands in the middle of the lake (Kaihua, Xieping, and Yaojiao), the Lotus Pavilion (Heting) and Great Dream Hill (Damengshan) by the side of the lake are connected by a causeway lined with willow trees and three bridges known as Jade Belt (Yudai), Flying Rainbow (Feihong), and Walking in Clouds (Buyun).
The park does have a variety of interesting sights that are possibly worth a visit. There is the Zoo and the nearby Panda World. Far more interesting are the Fuzhou Provincial Museum (Fujiansheng bowuguan) and the Anti-Opium Pavilion.
Situated at the northern end of West Lake Park, the Provincial Museum is one of Fujian's largest and best museums, holding an interesting collection of exhibits and artifacts. The most famous of these, a 3,500 year old coffin boat discovered in Wuyishan Cave, is of particular interest.
For those interested in contemporary Chinese history, the Anti-Opium Pavilion is one to visit. Commemorating the famous Lin Zexu, a patriotic imperial envoy who initiated a nation-wide anti-opium conquest during the First Opium War about 150 years ago (most notably destroying 20,000 chests of the drug in Canton in 1839), the sight is an interesting, if small, introduction to Chinese anti-imperialist history.
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