東湖——中國最大的城中湖

The East Lake Scenic Area is located in the east of Wuhan， a city known as “the thoroughfare to nine provinces” for its convenient transportation. It extends over 82 sq.km within which the lake covers 33 sq.km. The broad area of the water makes the East Lake the biggest “city lake” in China. The scenic area was designated by the State Council as one of the first key national scenic areas in 1982 and was valuated as AAAA scenic area by the State Tourism Administration in 2000. Two years after that it was awarded the ISO14001 Environment Quality Certificate. The magnificent scenic area attracts large numbers of tourists from both home and abroad every year.

武漢東湖生態(tài)風景旅游區(qū)位于“九省通衢”的武漢市東部，總面積82平方公里，其中水域面積33平方公里，是中國最大的城中湖。東湖1982年被國務院列為首批國家重點風景名勝區(qū)，2000年被國家旅游局評定為首批AAAA級旅游風景區(qū)，2002年通過了ISO14001環(huán)境管理體系認證，每年吸引大量中外游客。

Beautiful Hills and Ldkes 秀美的湖光山色

The East Lake Scenic Area boasts fascinating sceneries. It is divided into five zones， and four of them with over 100 scenic spots are open to the public now: Tingtao Zone (wave listening)， Mountain Mo， Chuidi Zone (flute playing) and Luoyan Zone (wild goose perching). There are 12 lakes in the scenic area with 120 islands spreading over them. The winding line of the lakes is as long as 112 kilometres， along which 34 mountain peaks rolling and 10，000 mu of trees covering theabundant land. The scenery in this area is beautiful all the year round. In spring， you can enjoy the lush hills and sparkling lakes， bird songs and a variety of flowers. In summer， it’s great fun to take a boat in the lake. In autumn when the hills are covered with maple leaves， the air is filled with the aroma of sweet osmanthus. Then in winter， the most wonderful thing is to view the plum flowers on snowy days and watch migrating birds flying overhead. Whenever you come here you will feel that you are in an elegant painting of hills and lakes.

東湖山水秀美，景觀別致，風光迷人。東湖風景區(qū)共分為五大景區(qū)，目前已對外開放的有聽濤、磨山、吹笛山、落雁島等四大景區(qū)(白馬景區(qū)未開放)，景觀景點100多處。33平方公里的水域浩瀚，12個大小湖泊，120多個島渚星羅，112公里湖岸線曲折，環(huán)湖34座山峰綿延起伏，10000余畝山林林木蔥郁，湖水鏡映，山體如屏，山色如畫。東湖一年四季，景色誘人；春季山青水綠、鳥語花香；夏季水上泛舟，清爽宜人；秋季紅葉滿山，丹桂飄香；冬季踏雪賞梅，候鳥競翔。

Rich Cultural Resources 厚重的人文底蘊

The East Lake Scenic Area is also the biggest tourist centre of ancient Chu culture. There are many historical sites which revive the Chu style and Chu charm， for example， the Xingyin Pavilion， Lisao Monument which gains its reputation for the beautiful lyrics on it， the Chu Heaven Platform at the peak of Mount Mo， the Chu Talent Park introducing a lot of ancient celebrities， the Chu Bazarre， Qu Yuan Statue and Qu Yuan Memorial Hall.

Around the East Lake Scenic Area， there are 26universities including Wuhan University， Huazhong University of Science and Technology， and China University of Geosciences etc， and 56 institutions for scientific research at different levels， such as the Wuhan Botanic Garden under China Academy of Sciences. In addition， Wuhan Optics Valley of China—the national optoelectronic industry base， the Jiufeng Forest Reserve， Hubei Provincial Museum， and Hubei Provincial Art Gallery are also located in the area. All of these add to the attractiveness of the East Lake.

東湖是最大的楚文化游覽中心，楚風濃郁，楚韻精妙，行吟閣名播遐邇，離騷碑譽為“三絕”，楚天臺氣勢磅礴為鳥瞰整個城市提供了一個平臺，楚才園名人薈萃，楚市、屈原塑像、屈原紀念館，內(nèi)涵豐富，美名遠揚。

東湖周邊聚集了武漢大學、華中科技大學、中國地質(zhì)大學等26所高等院校，中科院武漢植物園等56個國家、省、部屬科研院所，東湖新技術開發(fā)區(qū)國家光電子產(chǎn)業(yè)基地——中國光谷，九峰城市森林保護區(qū)、湖北省博物館，湖北省藝術館，文化底蘊深厚，旅游資源豐富。

Unique Gardens Within the Garden 別致的園中之園

Within the East Lake Scenic Area (and between the mountains and lakes) you can enjoy a number of various flower gardens. The Plum Garden tops the four plum gardens in South China， and it is China’s plum research centre with 309 species of plum on its 1，200 mu of land. Among the 262 registered species of plum in the world record it has 152 species. The Lotus Garden is known for China’s lotus research centre with 505 species of lotus and over 20 kinds of water plants. The Sakura Garden covers an area of 150 mu with 5，000 sakura trees. It’s one of the three world famous sakura gardens (the other two are Hirosaki Sakura Garden in Japan and Washington Sakura Garden in America).

Besides， there are many other brilliant gardens， such as the Sweet Osmanthus Garden， the Azalea Garden， the Rose Garden， the Water Plant Garden， the Pine Garden， and the Bonsai Garden， which altogether form a grand gathering of beauty in the world.

依山傍湖的東湖梅園，為江南四大梅園之首，1200畝園地上309種梅花爭芳斗艷。目前，國際注冊的梅花品種共262個，其中東湖梅園就占了152個，是中國梅花研究中心所在地。東湖荷花資源圃擁有荷花品種505個，水生植物20多個，是中國荷花研究中心所在地。東湖櫻花園，占地150畝，5000株櫻花競吐芬芳，是與日本泓前、美國華盛頓齊名的三大賞櫻勝地之一。

東湖還有桂花園、杜鵑園、薔薇園、水生花園、松柏園、盆景園等植物觀賞園，這里是人間美麗生命的群芳譜。

Colorful Festival Celebrations豐富的節(jié)慶活動

The Scenic Area is rich both in waters and in flowers. The charm of the East Lake lies in the fact that there are flowers in every season and festivals in every month. The most characteristic and notable are orchids in spring， lotus in summer， sweet osmanthus in autumn and plums in winter which form a string of flower festivals all the year round. Colorful festivals with different themes: the Folk Art Festival， the China Plum Festival， the Sakura Festival， the Peony Festival， the Qu Yuan Culture Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival， the Summer Sandbeach Festival and the Autumn Gardening Festival， etc. are held every year to attract a lot of tourists.

東湖既是花的海洋，也是水的世界。“月月有節(jié)、季季有花”是東湖的魅力所在。東湖名花薈萃，萬彩紛呈，花開四季、十里飄香，春蘭、秋桂、夏荷、冬梅是風景區(qū)最具特色的花卉；東湖浩淼的水域云蒸霞蔚、霧繞煙橫，萬頃波光浮天搖地。東湖旅游主題活動不斷，每年舉辦民俗文化藝術節(jié)、中國梅花節(jié)、櫻花節(jié)、牡丹節(jié)、屈原暨端午文化節(jié)、夏日沙灘風情節(jié)、金秋園林藝術節(jié)等活動，游客紛至沓來。