Thousand-Island Lake:the Manmade Wonder

时间:2022-08-20 01:36:52

The Thousand-Island Lake is located within Tun’an County, Zhejiang Province. It has such a name because of the 1,078 isles that are scattered in the lake. This lake is one of the “three lakes with over 1,000 islands” along with the Kingston Lake in Canada and Xinxian Lake in Hubei, China.

Different from the other two lakes, the Thousand-Island Lake in Zhejiang is a manmade lake. Finished in 1959, it was the first large water reservoir and hydropower facility designed and built by China. As the time flies, the lake’s functionality extended to the tourism resort. In 2009, the Thousand-Island Lake was elected the lake with the most islands in the world.

The Thousand-Island Lake was previously called Xin’anjiang Water Reservoir. The area of the lake reaches 567.4 square kilometers and the deepest part is 108 meters from the surface to the bottom. The average depth of the lake is 34 meters deep and has the water of 17.84 billion cubic meters. The main source of water of Thousand-Island Lake is Xinan River, whose majority flows through Anhui Province, and its tributaries.

As mentioned above, the Thousand-Island Lake has become more than the facility of reserving water and generating power. It is better known now as a tourism facility.

The Thousand-Island Lake’s charm mainly comes from the following aspects:

1.The water in the lake is so clear that in some places you can easily see the bottom of the lake;

2.The islands are in different shapes and possess various charms;

3.The dense forests on the islands provide beautiful scenes and fresh air;

4.There are versatile kinds of animals on the islands and in the lake;

5.The lake and its surrounding land own different kinds of landforms, limestone, Danxia Landform, granite and so on are all to be seen there.

The Islands

The best experience to tour the Thousand-Island Lake is to take a boat or ship, voyaging on the lake from island to island. The crystal-clear lake provides a refreshing viewpoint, but the islands are the main destinations of tourists and compose the large part of their journey.

1.Meifengguan Island

This island has the highest altitude among all islands in the lake. It is located only 12 kilometers away from the town of Thousand-Island Lake. It gets the name because of the five connected hills forming a lotus. It has a sightseeing platform on the top of the Mei Peak, on which you can see about 300 islands of this lake. Thus it is considered the No. 1 island in Thousand-Lake Island.

“One cannot see the full appearance of the ThousandIsland Lake without climbing onto the top of Mei Peak”, this is how the visitors describe the island an. Presently, there are several available facilities there, including the boating, orchard visiting and cable cars, but the best sight is still the peak and the trees growing on them.

2.Monkey Island

The Monkey Island is the major island of the Yunmeng Isles of Thousand-Island Lake. This group of islands consists of a dozen of green-covered islands and stands nine kilometers away from Thousand-Island Lake Town.

The Yunmeng Isles is home to many monkeys. Presently, there are Guangxi rhesus, red face stump-tailed macaque, guenon, machin and so on. And the Monkey Island, which is at least one kilometer away from the fellow islands, is like a green pearl in the waters. This island is home to the stump-tailed macaque and rhesus. There are the Ancestor Village, where people can get a close contact with monkeys, the Scientific Corridor, where people can get to know the knowledge of Primates and the Monkey Arts Center, where people can see the performance of monkeys.

3.The Legendary Dragon Island

Though its name contains the word “dragon”, it is actually a home to thousands of snakes. Different from the famous Snake Island among the Zhoushan Isles, the snakes here are raised by mankind and are used for being watched by the visitors.

The island has both venomous snakes and non-venomous snakes. In the Snake Garden, the snakes and people are staying in the same place, exciting but free of any danger. You can also see the battle between snakes and other snake-related performances. If you are bold enough, you can just take a photo with a small python around your neck.

4.Five Dragon Islands

Also known as Moonlight Islands, it has four small islands, which are all connected with each other through chain bridges. With each island having its own function, the Five Dragon Islands are among the most enjoyed scenic spots by tourists in the Thousand-Island Lake.

The four islands respectively host the scenic spots featuring locks, birds, children’s fun and stones. The Lock Island is where lovers must go. There they can buy a lock with their names and blessings carved on it and install the lock onto the rails of the island. Since lock in China means eternality, thus here it means the everlasting love. People can also inscribe their blessings for others’ happiness, health and so on onto the locks, which also represent the meaning of lasting forever.

The Bird Island is where you can see a lot of birds. Peacocks, eagles, nightingales, parrots and so on. People there can get to know a large amount of knowledge about birds. They can also have the opportunity to see the peacock flaunting its tail or having a photo with a living eagle standing on their shoulders.

The Children’s Fun Island hosts many facilities for children, where families with kids could find the best playground for fun. The Stone Island, as its name suggests, has a lot of weird stones and carvings.

The bridges that connect the small islands with each other possess their own fun as well. The Fish Fun Bridge is a bridge floating on the water allowing people to watch the fishes while feeding them. The Luck Bridge is the largest floating bridge in China and people believe that walking through it will bring about good luck. The Champion Bridge is a steel cable bridge. It is said to be built to honor the three champions of the imperial exams in ancient China.

5.Yellow Mountain Tip

The Yellow Mountain Tip is a new project which was added into he tourism sights of Thousand-Island Lake in 2005. Reaching the top of the mountain on this island and looking down into the northwest, you will see the far-reaching lake and thousands of islands, which form different kinds of patterns.

The Yellow Mountain Tip is located eight kilometers off the Thousand-Island Lake. Its main peak is 266 meters high from the sea level, which is he highest hill of the Pearl Isles.

6.Three-Pool Island

The Three-Pool Island is 10 kilometers away from the town. The island covers 80 hectares and mainly offers the tourism facilities of remaining sight of mountain fastness, entertainment facilities and special catering. Here people can have access to the local dancing arts, local cuisines and tea cultural performance.

In addition, there are a lot of entertainment and adventuring facilities there, where you can see a lot of rare animals, play with you friends and experience the excitement and adventure.

7.Dragon Mountain Island

It was previously a mountain. In the ancient time, it was a famous place of interest. When the water reservoir was finished, most of the hill was buried under the water and became an island. On the island stands the Temple of Hai Rui, which was built for the honor of Hai Rui, a famous minister in the Ming Dynasty.

Up from the Temple of Hai Rui, the steps can lead you to the Ninggu Drum Tower. There is an iron bell inside the tower, on which the visitors can hit with the mallet. In the tower people can also see the beautiful view of the lake.

Non-island Scenes

1.The Forest Oxygen Bar

The dense forest on the fringe of the southeastern part of the lake provides a good place to inhale fresh air and enjoy the natural beauty. It only takes 15 minutes of drive from the Thousand-Island Lake Town.

This place has the best-preserved forest plants in the Thousand-Island Lake, the most beautiful natural scenes and the best ecological system. The green is the main color of this place and the mountain and water provide the best place for rest.

There are over 300 kinds of plants in this forest. The karst landform hosts various shapes of limestones and colorful sedimentary rocks. The twisted and elegant streams, the powerful and resounding waterfalls, and the crystal-like pools for the complicated and ever-changing landscape, earning this place the title as the Paradise on the Island.

In the forest people can enjoy their walking while inhaling the fresh air. They can also enjoy the rock climbing, camping, sample collection, fishing and so on in the forest, which are good for both physical and mental health.

2.The Drifting

There are three rivers for the drifting. The first one is taking place on the White Cloud River. The White Cloud River is an important source for the Thousand-Island Lake. The drifting here is the most featuring drifting in the western part of Zhejiang.

Along the river, you can see the dense forests and green farmland, bringing a refreshing natural feeling to you when the boat is drifting in the swift current and floating past the nine bends and 18 twists. The whole journey costs three hours, in which you can throw away the mundane worries and completely throw yourself into the venturing and exciting experiences and the happy and joyful mood.

The second one is the Dragon Pool Valley. The whole course is 3.6 kilometers and the fall reached 166 meters, the largest in Zhejiang. Therefore, it is the fastest and most exciting drifting course in this province. Any bold people can enjoy the exciting experience there.

The Fuwen Prince Valley has the easies access for visitors, since it is only five kilometers from the expressway. The river is the clearest and purest one in the area of Thousand-Island Lake. 95% of this area is covered by the trees, where animals and birds are living. Even though taking a drift there is not so exciting as the first two places, it could provide a refreshing experience to the adventurers.

3.Qinchuan Village

The village is located in Langchuan County, Chun’an. This is a village which has been there for over 700 years. Even though it is in Zhejiang, the buildings in this village completely followed the Huizhou architectural style. Presently, 70% of the buildings inside this village can date back to Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Five camphor trees are standing in the entrance of the village, spreading their branches to every direction. The tallest one is over 800 years old. A small stream flows through the village, on which about 30 bridges connect the two parts of the village together.

The most famous bridge is the Jiyun Bridge which was built in the Chongzhen Period of the Ming Dynasty. Around this bridge stand 300 ancient buildings with typical Huizhou architectural style. The white wall and the blue tile form their most basic features. The carvings of these buildings, no matter of wood, stone or brick, are distinguished and well-known for their delicacy and exquisiteness.

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