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Changpa Reservoir was located halfway between the southwest corner of Ch’ang-an and the nearby Chungnan Mountains, and supplied water to the capital via the Tungchi Canal. The scene is midsummer, when lotuses are in full bloom and a little relief from the heat is welcome. Ice was stored underground in straw-filled boxes during winter and sold to those who could afford it during the summer. Lotus roots are about the size of a yam. Once their thick skin is removed they are sliced and either stir-fried or, in this case, eaten raw and washed down with chilled rice wine.

Encountering Rain at Changpa Reservoir One Evening While Enjoying a Cool Breeze with Rich Young Men and Their Singsong Girls—I

TU FU

Sunset is just right for boating

a light breeze stirs a few waves

boaters pause by the dense bamboo

and breathe in the cool lotus-flower air

the young men add ice to their drinks

the women scrape lotus roots clean

a cloud overhead turns dark

surely the rain will bring poems