Daming Lake (Chinese: 大明湖), literally means 'Lake of the Great Splendour', is a lake located in the city of Jinan (濟南), Shandong Province (山東省), China. Lixia Pavilion (Chinese: 歷下亭) is located on an island off the lake's east shore.
Lixia Pavilion has a long history. Its predecessor was a seeing-off pavilion in the Northern Wei (北魏) Dynasty (5th century AD). It was originally located near Baotu Spring (趵突泉), and it was renamed Lixia Pavilion in the Tang (唐) Dynasty.
Lixia Pavilion is said to mark the spot of a meeting between the Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu (杜甫; 712-770) and the calligrapher Li Yong (李邕; 678-747).
The pavilion was rebuilt in 1693 and features inscriptions by Emperor Kangxi (康熙) of Qing (清) Dynasty.
Next to Lixia Pavilion is an imperial monument of Emperor Qianlong (乾隆), but it was severely damaged during the Cultural Revolution.
Daming Lake Park covers a total area of 860,000 square meters of which the lake itself comprises 460,000 square meters. The lake is fed by the artesian karst springs of Jinan.
From Lixia Pavilion you can overlook Huxin Pavilion (湖心亭). Huxin Pavilion was built in the Song (宋) Dynasty, but the original building has long since disappeared. The pavilion seen nowadays was built in 1990.
