An island of tea and bamboo
Junshan Island in Dongting Lake holds seventy-two peaks, a goddess legend, and the tea that was once a Tang imperial tribute. This is the island, its garden of shrines and bamboo, and what it offers a visitor now.
Junshan Island
Junshan Island (君山岛) lies in Dongting Lake west of Yueyang, an oval island of 0.96 square kilometres whose seventy-two peaks rise to 63.5 metres. Once a Daoist retreat, it takes its name — Lord Mountain — from the two consorts of the sage-king Shun, who mourned him here; Qu Yuan's 'Nine Songs' invokes the pair as the Xiang Lord and the Xiang Lady, and their tomb is the island's central monument. The Tang poet Liu Yuxi saw the island as a green snail set in a silver plate. Now a national 5A scenic area run together with Yueyang Tower, the island also grows Junshan Silver Needle tea, a Tang imperial tribute that remains one of China's most famous teas.
Junshan Island