The scenery of West Lake is beautiful in all four seasons but features a different charm in different seasons. Seeing while walking, you’ll find that the cold winter season has presented to you another kind of beauty of West Lake.
Slowing down your footsteps and seeing those layers upon layers of withered lotus, you'll finally understand the withered yellow that remains in the lake is the beauty that lotus plants present after a prosperous summer.
On sunny days, the withered lotus plants are seen extremely thin. In the sunshine, their reflections cover the lake, composing one after another delicate and beautiful landscape painting.
The remaining branches and leaves in the lake are askew and interlaced with one another, which forms a delightful contrast with the hazy mountains in the distance, creating an ink and wash painting-like indistinct beauty.
Because of these withered lotus plants, West Lake in winter gives people one more expectation of spring.
Lotus plants are perennial plants. After withering, the plants will become nutrients for lotus roots, which will germinate in spring. Although the lotus plants in the lake withered, the majority of them still stand straight in the lake, which makes a great scene for photo shooting.
In order to protect the water quality of West Lake, to reduce the withered lotus plants’ impact on the water body of West Lake and also to provide a better growing environment for next year’s lotus plants, the withered lotus plants in West Lake will be harvested and cleared away generally after the Spring Festival (February 1, 2022). There are 23 lotus fields in the West Lake, more than 150 mu in total. It will take about 15-20 days to harvest all of them.
If you like the scene of withered lotus, you’d better seize the day to have a stroll around West Lake Scenic Area. You can start from the lotus pond in the Broken Bridge and then walk ahead passing by the lotus ponds in Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake, Beishan Road and Xiling Bridge to enjoy the unique beauty of the withered lotus.