According to the Chinese Daoism, the lake was named during the Southern Dynasty when somebody noticed a black dragon water god that appeared in the form of a snake and turtle. Xuanwu Lake today has more than six miles of coastline and it spread on over 440 hectares.
The mountains surround the lake that has a total of five isles. The list of isles includes Ying Isle with blossoming cherry, Cui Isle that is famous for quietness, Huan Isle with willow trees, Ling Isle with golden and purple Clouds, and Liang Isle with many chrysanthemums. Xuanwu Lake is considered to be an important landscape of Nanjing and is protected by the state.
Other Things to See in Nanjing
Zhanyuan Garden |
Yuyuan Garden |
Meiling Palace |
Linggu Temple |
Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum (Zhongshan Ling) |
Presidential Palace |
1912 Bar Street |
Taiping Heavenly Kingdom History Museum |
Nanjing Museum |
Zifeng Tower (Greenland Financial Center |
Fuzi Miao Pedestrian Street |
Zijin Shan Plank Way |
Zijin Shan Cable Car |
Jiming Temple |
Taicheng City Wall |
Zhonghua Gate |
Nanjing Museum of Paleontology |
Nanjing University |
Zijin Shan (Purple Gold Mountain) |
Memorial Hall of the Nanjing Massacre |
Xiaoling Tomb of the Ming Dynasty (Mingxiao Ling) |
Tang Shan Hot Springs |
Rain Flower Terrace (Yuehua Tai) |
Nanjing City Wall |
Mochou Lake Park |
Nanjing Drum Tower |
Nanjing Confucius Temple (Nanjing Fuzi Miao) |