Tiger Spring, located in Dinghui Zen Temple on Daci Mountain in the south of the Hangzhou West Lake, is a wellspring landscape regarding viewing spring, hearing spring and tasting spring as its theme. Also, it is a human landscape features in legend.
Origin of its name
According to legend, the Tang Dynasty great master Xing Kong traveled to this mountain and loved the delicately beautiful scenery here, then he lived down. Later, as there was no waterhead nearby, he was prepared to move somewhere else. One night, he dreamed the God told him: "There is a spring on the Nanyue Mountain, you can send two tigers to move it here." The next day, he really saw two tigers dig a ground cave, then the clear spring water poured out, so named "Tiger Spring".
Features
Tiger Spring is a two feet square spring. The clear, bright and clean spring water pours out from the mountain rock. The back wall of the spring is engraved with the three Chinese characters of "Tiger Spring" which is vigorous brushwork and profound skill. In front of the spring, there is a pool surrounded by stone railing, which has overlapping hillstone, green pines, flowers and plants in the middle, as if a miniature garden. Tourists who visit here can sit on the stone to taste the spring water and to enjoy the beautiful flowers.
Dragon Well Tea
Throughout the ages, people who traveled to Hangzhou, without exception, will personally taste the Dragon Well Tea made by the spring water from the Tiger Spring in the West Lake. The ancient poets left many poems to praise the sweat spring water of Tiger Spring. Tiger Spring in West Lake Scenic Area built a number of tearooms which attract Chinese and foreign tea drinkers to come here.