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The garden’s fame rose in the Qing Dynasty when Emperor Kangxi personally wrote an inscription of the garden’s name for engraving on a stone tablet erected by the fish pond.
Brief of Viewing Fish at Flower Pond
This gorgeous site is located in Huagang (Flower Pond) Park, which lies between Western Hill and Su Causeway. According to local history, there used to be a tiny creek that flowed from the nearby Flower Hill into West Lake, hence the name Flower Pond. Huagang Park used to be a private garden of Lu Yunsheng (a palace eunuch in the Southern Song Dynasty). The garden’s fame rose in the Qing Dynasty when Emperor Kangxi personally wrote an inscription of the garden’s name for engraving on a stone tablet erected by the fish pond.
Usually, a boat ride on West Lake and trip around Huagang Park is part of a day’s itinerary. Two fish ponds in the park are must-sees for visitors. The small one, close to the main entrance to the park, is a historic fish pond. It is the original site of Viewing Fish at Flower Pond, which has a history of 800 years. Beside the fish pond stands the pavilion that houses the Imperial Stele. The big fish pond, lying almost in the middle of the park, is known as the red carp pond where a few thousand red carp are kept. There is an isle in the pond that is reached by a zigzag bridge, an arch bridge and a short embankment. The bank of the pond is planted with a rich variety of trees and flowers, the reflection of which in water is fantastic. Dotted with fallen petals is the undulating surface of the pond, in which red carp clothed with petals are seen sucking petals. Bending over the rails of the bridge and watching the carp noisily scrambling for food thrown to them is a delicious experience.