West Lake is a freshwater

Freshwater

Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...

 lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 in the center of Hanoi

Hanoi

Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...

, Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

. With a shore length of 17 km (about 10.6 miles), this is the largest lake of the capital and a popular place for recreation with many surrounding gardens, hotels and villas. A small part of West Lake is divided by Thanh Nien road to form Truc Bach Lake. One district

Districts of Vietnam

||The provinces of Vietnam are divided into counties , provincial cities , and county-level towns .The centrally-controlled municipalities are subdivided into rural counties , county-level towns , and urban districts , which then subdivided into wards ....

 of Hanoi is named after the lake, Tay Ho

Tay Ho

Tây Hồ is an urban district of Hanoi the capital city of Vietnam, named after the West Lake nearby. VietJet AirAsia, a planned airline, has its headquarters on the fourth floor of the Flower Mansion in Tay Ho. Air Mekong maintains its Hanoi branch on the third floor of the Syrena Tower in Tay...

 district.

History

West Lake was created from a curved part of Red River and appeared in several Vietnamese legends. One legend suggests that West Lake was shaped after the battle between Lac Long Quan

Lac Long Quan

Lạc Long Quân , according to the creation myth of the Vietnamese people, was the father of the Vietnamese people, and their first true king. Lạc Long Quân was the son and sole successor of Kinh Dương Vương , who ruled over Xích Quỷ...

 and a night-tail fox spirit, that's why the lake was once called "Fox Corpse Swamp" (Vietnamese: Đầm Xác Cáo). Another folk story claimed that original name of the lake is "Golden Buffalo Lake" (Vietnamese: Hồ Trâu Vàng, or Han Viet: Hồ Kim Ngưu) because it was formed from struggle of a buffalo after the disappearance of her calf. In 11th century, the lake was named "Foggy Lake" (Han Viet: Hồ Dâm Đàm) from its misty condition and ultimately its name was changed to "West Lake" in 1573 to avoid

Naming taboo

Naming taboo is a cultural taboo against speaking or writing the given names of exalted persons in China and neighboring nations in the ancient Chinese cultural sphere.-Kinds of naming taboo:...

 the given name of king Lê Thế Tông which was Duy Đàm.

West Lake is bordered with many significant places in history of Hanoi and Vietnam. Tran Quoc Pagoda, oldest pagoda in Vietnam,, was built in 6th century by Lý Nam Đế and now locates on a small island in the middle of the lake. Near Tran Quoc Pagoda is Quan Thanh Temple

Quan Thanh Temple

Quán Thánh Temple , formerly known as Tran Vu Temple , is a Taoist temple in Hanoi, Vietnam. Dated to the 11th century, the temple was dedicated to Xuan Wu, or Trấn Vũ in Vietnamese, one of the principal deities in Taoism...

, one of the Four Sacred Temples of ancient Hanoi (Vietnamese: Tứ trấn Thăng Long). Chu Van An High School, one of the oldest high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

in Vietnam, also locates close to the shiy.

Recreation activities

As the largest lake and locates right in the center of Hanoi, West Lake is rammed with many gardens, hotels, restaurants and other entertaining centers. For this reason, real estate price of areas near West Lake is staggering and the surrounding quarters are often full with high-class villas of every architectures.