After passing by some flowers on a recent foggy day in Zhongshan, I found a good view of the dam at the Changjiang Reservoir (长江水库).
Changjiang is the name of a famous river. The name may not ring any bells, and that's probably because the river is typically named the Yangtze River (扬子江) in English. The short story about the river's English name is it is based on just one of its sections. Using China's current system for romanizing Chinese words, that section would instead now be named the Yangzi River.
But the Yangtze River never comes close to Zhongshan, and there's more to the story about how the Changjiang Reservoir got its name:
Apparently Jiang's suggestion had an impact. A few signs near the reservoir display the Qingling Lake name.
However, it doesn't appear to be the official name. According to online maps the name remains the Changjiang Reservoir. And that is the only name used on a Zhongshan government website (example in Chinese).
The body of water is rather large and surrounded by much greenery. Unfortunately, at least where and when I arrived all I could find with views that was open to the public was a small area in front of the Scenic Holiday Hotel. But I could at least spot an island through the fog from one vantage point.
So I don't have much to share in terms of photos, though I am glad I made it there. And I will conclude with one of the more picturesque trees I came across at the reservoir, lake, or whatever you'd like to call it.
Changjiang is the name of a famous river. The name may not ring any bells, and that's probably because the river is typically named the Yangtze River (扬子江) in English. The short story about the river's English name is it is based on just one of its sections. Using China's current system for romanizing Chinese words, that section would instead now be named the Yangzi River.
But the Yangtze River never comes close to Zhongshan, and there's more to the story about how the Changjiang Reservoir got its name:
Why is the reservoir named Changjiang (the Yangzi River) although it has nothing to do with the mother river - Changjiang. According to a legend, about 300 years ago, a Mr. Long and his nephew came from their hometown Jiangxi province to farm in this wildness. They named the place they resided "Changgang" (literally, it means a [series] of hills) because on their way from Jiangxi to Zhongshan, they walked [past] one hill after another. To commemorate their hometown Jiangxi, they changed "Changgang" to "Changjiang". (In some Chinese dialects, Gang is the [homophone] of Jiang.)Despite the story, journalist Jiang Shangyu (江上雨) doesn't think the name lives up to the reservoir's splendor (link in Chinese with many photos of the reservoir), and their argument was published in the Southern Daily newspaper (link in Chinese without many photos). The suggestion was to change the name to Qingling Lake (庆龄湖) in honor of Soong Ching-ling (宋庆龄), a prominent past political figure in China and the third wife of Sun Yat-sen — the "founding father of the Republic of China". In China, the name Sun Zhongshan is commonly used for Sun Yat-sen, and that's where the city of Zhongshan gets its name.
Apparently Jiang's suggestion had an impact. A few signs near the reservoir display the Qingling Lake name.
However, it doesn't appear to be the official name. According to online maps the name remains the Changjiang Reservoir. And that is the only name used on a Zhongshan government website (example in Chinese).
The body of water is rather large and surrounded by much greenery. Unfortunately, at least where and when I arrived all I could find with views that was open to the public was a small area in front of the Scenic Holiday Hotel. But I could at least spot an island through the fog from one vantage point.
So I don't have much to share in terms of photos, though I am glad I made it there. And I will conclude with one of the more picturesque trees I came across at the reservoir, lake, or whatever you'd like to call it.
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