Small West Lake (xiǎo xī hú 小西湖) is located in Tongzi County (tóng zǐ xiàn 桐梓县), Zunyi City (zūn yì shì 遵义市). The lake was formed during the 1950s when the dam was completed. The pattern of the lake follows the West Lake in Hangzhou (háng zhōu 杭州), hence the name Small West Lake. It is famous for its unique natural sites, and crowned as the pearl in north Guizhou Province (guì zhōu shěng 贵州省).

In the head of the dam, there is a square pagoda. When the sun is sinking in the west, the shadow of the pagoda is reflected on the surface of the lake, which is like the Leifeng Pagoda in the Sunset (léi fēng xī zhào 雷峰夕照). In the winter of 1944, when Zhang Xueliang (zhāng xué liáng 张学良) was kept in captivity here, and there built a platform for fishing. Mr. Zhang spent over two years there and there still is kept some articles Zhang had used.

The famous scenery in Small West Lake are the Shangtianmen (shàng tiān mén 上天门), which is a natural bridge forms naturally, stretching over two mountains. In the center of the bridge, there is a cave---- Tianqiao Cave (tiān qiáo róng dòng 天桥溶洞), which is more than 100 meters deep. At the entrance of the cave, you can have a bird’s view of the running water of the river bellow, and also can look far into the distance. There is a newly opened plank road alongside cliffs, which is precipitous and fancy.

You can take a little boat, enjoy the elegance of the scenes on both banks, and appreciate the peach blossoms, the green bamboos, and the fantastic scene of Shangtianmen and the shadows over the lake.

Small West Lake
Location: Tongzi County, Zunyi City
Admission fee: free
Opening hours: all day
Transportation: you can take a bus at Zunyi Bus Station to Tongzi, and then take a tourist bus to get there