China started to build the first self-built hydropower station in 1959. Dams were built and water was stored, forming steep gorges out of flat lake landscape covering an area of 573km2. The ancient city with a history of over 1,000 years was hence submerged under the lake. What’s fantastic about this project is that all the 1,078 peaks have turned into 1,078 islands. That’s how the name “Thousand-Island Lake” comes from.

Being honored as “The Most Beautiful Water in the World”, Thousand-Island Lake possesses 17,800,000,000m3 of water with visibility reaching 9 – 12m. The shoreline of the lake which is about 2,200km long winds like a golden belt. As the largest national forest park in China, it has forest coverage rate of 98% and a green looking ratio of near 100%. Over 62,000 negative oxygen ions are contained per cubic centimeter. The livable ecological environment brings rich natural resources including over 1,800 species of plants and near 2,000 breeds of animals. For freshwater fish alone, the number of breeds has reached over 100.

The beautiful landscape makes Thousand-Island Lake a paradise for vacations and conferences, earning it the honor of “Landscape Park of the World and Famous Leisure Lake of the East”. It is 317km away from Shanghai and 129km away from Hangzhou in the east, and 175km away from Mount Huangshan in the west. The superior location makes it not only a shining pearl on “Hangzhou – Thousand-Island Lake – Mount Huangshan” international gold travel line combing famous city, famous lake and famous mountain, but an ideal resort of Shanghai-centered metropolitan area.

(Source: Landscape and Tourism Committee of Thousand-Island Lake, Chun’an County)