Although seemingly ordinary, this park is a Tang Poetry Road Museum, offering significant viewing opportunities.

While enjoying the warm spring weather, this is my first time visiting the Lushun Park in XinChang County, Zhejiang Province. This park is not ordinary; it's a Tang Poetry Road Museum without walls, primarily free, and will soon be integrated into XinChang's tourist routes.

XinChang is a mountain city. Previously, there were few similar parks, except for treating the Great Buddha Temple as a backyard garden, and only walking along the Changjiang River. Now, the Lushun Park fills this gap. Lushun Park is designed around the theme of 'Tang Poetry Road', integrating history, culture, and poetry into it, adding a place for recreation, sightseeing, rest, and entertainment to XinChang, and it's a landmark park on Tang Poetry Road, and also a landmark for the city's image.

People might wonder why it's called Lushun Park? According to Song Jia Tai's 'Chiji Zhi', 'Lushun, located five miles west of XinChang County. Its shape is like a drum.' The 'XinChang County Chronicle' also states: 'Lushun, also known as Bingshan. The pulse originates from Flag Peak, descending to Flat Slope, rising naturally and distinctly. Round top like a drum like a screen. There are springs and pools suitable for cultivation. The mountain cuts across the water, serving as the gateway to the town.'

Lushun Park boasts 1006 dedicated underground parking spaces, which greatly reduces the parking difficulties during holidays at the Great Buddha Temple. So, if you're traveling to XinChang, you can visit Lushun Park.

Lushun Park is centered around Lushun Mountain, extending to the east along the Changjiang River, south along Lushun Road and Xichang Road, and west to the Zhongchu Road. The park is bordered by the city's residential area. The main attractions in Lushun Park include the Lushun Academy, Tianbao Pavilion, and Li Bai Memorial Hall.

When you walk from the main entrance of Lushun Park to the right, you can see Changxi Elementary School on the west side, and next to it is the Lushun Academy. During normal school hours, you can still hear the sounds of students reading, and you might suspect that you've taken a wrong turn. No, you haven't! There are actually two schools within Lushun Park: Changxi Elementary School and Lushun Middle School.

Before the Lushun Academy was the Stone Drum Hall, founded by Song Jia Yu in the early years of Emperor Song Zhao. According to the surviving stone tablets, the academy began in the Jiajing years of the Ming Dynasty (1534) and was rebuilt in the Wintor year of the Qing Dynasty (1818). The existing buildings are rebuilt in 1897 during the reign of the Guangxu Emperor. They are arranged in an 'open' character shape, consisting of a Gate, a Hall, an Inner Hall, a Book Repository, and two Academy Buildings.

The Lushun Academy is one of the largest existing academy buildings in XinChang and Shaoxing, and it has a relatively regular academy layout, one of the best-preserved ancient academy buildings in Shaoxing. It is also an important cultural attraction in Lushun Park. Zhu Xi, a famous Song Dynasty philosopher and the founder of the Confucian school, was closely associated with the Lushun Academy, and he lectured there at the invitation of Shi Tao.

To the right of the Lushun Academy is a flight of steps leading to Tianbao Pavilion, and next to it are stones engraved with Tang poems. Walking along while reciting the poems is also a characteristic feature. I don't know exactly how many steps it is, but if you walk this way, it's at most a five-minute walk.

Tang poetry builds on the flourishing poetry of the Song Dynasty and opens up the poetry of the word, with its majestic and profound atmosphere, it's a peak in Chinese literary history. 'Tang Poetry Road' was first proposed by XinChang scholar Ziku Yuebing in the 1980s. XinChang is the first place where Tang Poetry Road was initiated and the essence of the Eastern Zhejiang Tang Poetry Road.

The Lushun Museum is composed of the Tianbao Pavilion exhibition area, Li Bai Memorial Hall, and the Tang Poetry Road Cultural Monument Corridor, making it the first Chinese museum themed around 'Tang Poetry Road', showcasing the legend of discovering and exploring Tang Poetry Road, showcasing a parallel with the Silk Road, and portraying the humanistic traces of Tang Dynasty poets like Li Bai.

Tianbao Pavilion stands 31.5 meters high. This pavilion, designed and built in the late Tang Dynasty style by architectural expert Du Shun Bao, is majestic and imposing, echoing Mount Tianbao, and can also overlook XinChang County and Mount Tianbao, offering a close-range experience of Tang culture in XinChang.

The reason why it's called Tianbao Pavilion is because of Li Bai's 'Dreaming of Tianbao, Leaving Behind a Farewell', and there's a Tianbao Mountain in XinChang, as well as Tianbao Bridge. It's not surprising that Tianbao Pavilion is named. Although there are many disputes online, whether Li Bai actually went to Mount Tianbao is still debated. However, XinChang does have a mountain called Tianbao Mountain, and Li Bai wrote this poem.

The first floor is dedicated to the introduction of Tang Dynasty poets. Under the light of the lamps, it has a mysterious atmosphere, and it's also a good educational base for children. The first floor has an elevator that directly reaches the top of Tianbao Pavilion.

Standing in the pavilion, you can see the entire Lushun Mountain in front of you, and you can see Mount Tianbao in the distance, the entire XinChang Cityscape is at your fingertips. However, the opening time is limited, and it's not open at night, so it's a good place to watch the moon and stars, and also a good place for photographers to shoot sunrise and sunset.

Even if you don't do anything, just sit here in the pavilion, listening to the wind chimes is a pleasure, especially in the summer, it's a cool place. If you're patient, you can read the Tang Poetry Road Cultural Monument Corridor, a collection of poems carved on stone.

In the spring, the lilac blossoms on Lushun Mountain are especially vibrant, reflected on the steles, adding even more poetry to the scene.

When walking through the Lushun Park, you can easily miss many of the sculptures if you're not paying attention. They are poets who have visited XinChang and left many famous works. Besides the sculptures, there are also poet introductions and famous sentences. The sculptures of poets are in various poses, strolling through the mountains and waters, with a poetic atmosphere. This is a favorite place for young people, a place for dating and talking about love.

If you're tired or hungry, you can check out the Lushun Park Cultural Leisure Street, where you can taste XinChang's local specialties like year-old cakes and thick pulled lamb heads at reasonable prices. If you finish exploring the entire Lushun Park, it will take about an hour, and it's recommended to come to play during the resembled spring.

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