Yueyang Tower and Dongting Lake

Yueyang Tower stands on the old city wall above Dongting Lake, rebuilt many times since the third century and surviving now in a Qing structure of 1880, notable for a roof carried on interlocking brackets without nails. Its fame rests on Fan Zhongyan's essay of 1046, written for a rebuilding he never saw, which describes the lake in different weathers and ends with the line about being first to worry about the world's troubles and last to enjoy its pleasures, quoted ever since. Dongting is the second-largest freshwater lake in China and varies enormously with the season, shrinking to a fraction in winter and spreading across the plain in the summer flood.

What you actually see

• The 1880 tower - the Qing building with its nail-free bracketed roof.
• The Fan Zhongyan essay - the text carved and displayed in the tower.
• Dongting Lake - the water spreading or shrinking with the season.
• Junshan Island - the small island offshore, reached by boat.

When to go

April to June and September to November; the lake is at its fullest in the summer flood season from July, and at its lowest in winter, when much of the bed is exposed grassland. Summer is hot and humid.

Honest expectations

The lake has shrunk substantially over the past century through reclamation and sedimentation, and low water can leave the tower looking over grass rather than water. Entry is charged, and the tower is small.

Nearby

Junshan Island lies offshore; Changsha is south.