Stories and Folktales

         (A)

West Lake, a bright pearl

Once upon a time, there lived Jade Dragon and Golden Phoenix. One day, they found a shinning pebble. They tried to carve it into a pearl. After many years of hard work, it becomes a dazzling pearl. The Queen Mother  saw its brilliant rays in the sky and was so carried away by its beauty that she desired to have it for herself. She sent her guard to steal the pearl while Jade Dragon and Golden Phoenix were asleep.

The next morning when they found the pearl was gone, Jade Dragon and Golden Phoenix were very upset and searched everywhere. By chance, they found the familiar light and tracked the light until they came to a place where the birthday ceremony for the Queen Mother was going on. They made their way through the crowd, demanding the return of the pearl. The Queen Mother, Jade Dragon and Golden Phoenix struggled over the tray, pushing and pulling with their mighty until the pearl fell off to earth. The moment it touched the ground, the pearl turned into a clear lake to west of Hangzhou.

Reluctant to part from it, Jade Dragon and Golden Phoenix came flying and dancing down and chanced themselves into two hills- the Jade Emperor Hill and the Phoenix Hill that, to this day , stand by West Lake, guarding this “bright pearl”. So there is the folk old popular saying:

      The West Lake, a dazzling pearl, dropping from the sky,

     The Flying Dragon and the Dancing Phoenix forever stand by.  

 (B)

                  Sister Song’s fish broth

It is a traditional, well-known dish dating back over 870 years, when the Southern Song Dynasty was just founded with Hangzhou as its capital. Sister Song and her brother-in-law lived by fishing in West Lake. One day, the brother went out fishing and came back with a bad cold. He took to bad and did not rise again for several days. Sister Song made a special fish broth for her brother. It was a thick soup prepared out of fish with ginger, pepper, wine and vinegar. This soup revived her brother’s appetite and he got recovered pretty soon.

Later on, when the emperor Xiaozong learned the story, he got Sister Song to make the same soup for him. After taking it, he commended her highly. Words spread quickly. People all wanted very much to try the soup. Sister Song then set up a store outside the Qiantang Gate, which became popular as fast as it could be.