Gaoyou Lake, a niche tourist destination in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, takes you to a different Gaoyou
Preface
I've read and yearned for the Peach Blossom Spring in middle school textbooks. On my way to Tibet, at the foot of Mount Everest, I've encountered places I'd like to become a monk. In the future, I've dreamed of finding a place where I could live a self-sufficient life with my loved one. Now, I've been pleasantly surprised to discover Gaoyou Lake and a small island in its center. The island's owner lives a self-sufficient life, with cages full of shrimp, crabs, and abundant fish and rice. He entertains a few friends daily, and we chat to our hearts' content. Just like in Peach Blossom Spring, this place is only accessible by boat, but just like in "A Longing for Life," you can enjoy the joy of harvesting. Here, whatever you crave, you can grab it. Let me explain just how wonderful this place is.
Overview of Gaoyou Lake
“If you haven’t met the people of Gaoyou, you’ve probably heard of Gaoyou eggs.” This proves that Gaoyou is most famous not for Gaoyou Lake, China’s sixth largest freshwater lake, but for its red-hearted, fragrant Gaoyou salted duck eggs, which ooze red oil with a sizzling sound when you poke them with a chopstick.
Gaoyou Lake is the sixth largest freshwater lake in China and the third largest in Jiangsu Province. Connecting Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, Gaoyou Lake, also known as Zhuhu Lake and Biwa Lake, is a scenic shallow lake teeming with wild ducks, egrets, and other waterfowl. Nationally protected species such as the Oriental White Wren, Red-crowned Crane, and Egrets also breed and winter here. Because its water level is higher than the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, Gaoyou Lake is known as a hanging lake, contributing to its clear water quality.
Origin of the name Gaoyou
As early as 7,000 years ago, humans practiced slash-and-burn agriculture in Gaoyou. In 223 BC, King Ying Zheng of Qin ordered the construction of a high platform and a post office. Because the post office was located on a high earthen platform, it was named "Gaoyou," also known as Qinyou. Later generations also called it Gaosha, Zhuhu, and Yucheng. This post town is unique in China and the only one of more than 2,000 counties and cities in China named after a post office.
Gaoyou History
Gaoyou's history is one of suffering. From legend to reality, Gaoyou has always been plagued by floods. A legend circulates around Gaoyou Lake: beneath the vast expanse of water lies an ancient city, complete with houses and streets, just like a city on land. Local fishermen still fervently believe this legend. A 70-year-old local fisherman recounted how, two years ago, a fisherman caught a jade pillow, a truly rare find. "How could such a rare find exist in this vast, white Gaoyou Lake without a city beneath it?"
In reality, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the construction of the Sanhe Sluice Gate at Hongze Lake in 1952 initially brought flooding under control of the Huaihe River. In 1958, the Huaihe River embankment, linking the river through Jingou and directly to Gaoyou Lake, was constructed. Since 1950, flood barriers within Gaoyou Lake have been removed, the Xinmintan Control Project has been built, and the flood control levees have been reinforced. In 1991 and 2003, two exceptional floods struck Gaoyou Lake, sending water levels soaring. Villages near Gaoyou Lake made great sacrifices by demolishing dams and allowing the lake water to inundate the villages, ensuring the safety of more people downstream.
Despite the constant disasters, Gaoyou Lake is undoubtedly rich! Its 5.55-meter-deep water level makes it extremely rich in microorganisms and aquatic products. Higher than the Hanging Lake in Gaoyou city, the lake's water quality is clear and the aquatic products are delicious.
The superior natural environment has nurtured Gaoyou Lake's unique lake seafood, which can be divided into three categories: fish, poultry, and vegetables.
Fresh fish: fish, shrimp (fresh shrimp, white shrimp, etc.), crab, clams, turtles, etc. There are sixty or seventy kinds of fish, such as bream, whitefish, carp, crucian carp, black carp, bighead carp, razorfish, yellow catfish, tiger shark, eel, unagi, whitebait, melon fish, etc.
Fresh poultry: Gaoyou Lake Mallard, goose, wild duck, native chicken, black pig, etc.
Fresh vegetables: In spring, there are four fresh vegetables: reed sprouts, artemisia selengensis, water shield, and wild celery; in autumn, there are four fresh vegetables: wild rice stem, water chestnut, lotus root, and water gorgon fruit.
The other side of Gaoyou Lake
A modern version of "Peach Blossom Spring", "Longing for Life" on the screen
Arriving on the island doesn't require abandoning your boat and entering through the entrance, as in the Peach Blossom Spring. It's initially extremely narrow, but only just wide enough for people to pass through. However, you must transfer to a speedboat at the embankment separating the Grand Canal from Gaoyou Lake, and then travel across the waterway of Gaoyou Lake. Besides our speedboat, the only other boats plying the waterway are the fishermen's small boats, entering a modern-day "Peach Blossom Spring." While the initial arrival on the island isn't quite like a world away, it's certainly a welcome break from the frenetic pace of the city. The island is clearly divided into distinct zones, each with its own specific role.
Upon first arriving on the island, you'll feel like you're in a large courtyard, with the island as its garden and the lake as its water. Each building in the courtyard, such as the Chenzhou Bridge, the Huanzhu Pavilion (Observation Tower), the Wanzhu Pavilion, and the Fishing Gold Pond, has a profound meaning and origin.
Next to the "courtyard" there are also leisure and entertainment centers, planting areas, and breeding areas, which are all sufficient to make the islanders self-sufficient. It can be called a real-life version of "A Longing for Life".
There is a special vegetable growing area on the island, where all kinds of seasonal fresh organic fruits and vegetables are grown in an original ecological way. The vegetables used in the restaurant in the "courtyard" are all sourced from here, and they are pure, natural and pollution-free.
Gaoyou Lake's vast expanse and excellent water quality provide a unique ecological environment for the growth of a variety of fish, birds, poultry, and aquatic plants. It produces an abundance of high-quality black carp, river shrimp, whitebait, and crab. The most notable of these is the Gaoyou Lake hairy crab, a natural, plump, and delicious crab. A visit to Gaoyou in autumn will reveal an abundance of crabs, practically guaranteed to be readily available.
("Shrimp" and "Crab" picked up casually)
Gaoyou Lake Accommodation
A pleasant surprise in this "Peach Blossom Spring" are the two large boat hotels on the lake. Their wooden hulls, carved beams, and painted buildings are truly exquisite. There's a leisure platform with seating on board. Sitting there at sunset, you can see the fishing nets on the other side teeming with crabs. Catch a few, and in the evening, enjoy an open-air movie on the large lakeside terrace, accompanied by a barbecue and beer. It's such a delight!
(The little dots on the internet are all crabs)
Check in to your room at night. Built to four-star standards, it nestles against the water and rises and falls with the water. The hotel is made up of seven boats, each serving as a base, and is anchored by steel cables, ensuring stability.
The rooms are much more luxurious than you would imagine a houseboat to be. Almost every room has floor-to-ceiling windows facing the lake, which provides an excellent experience. You can watch an open-air movie by the lake at night and see the beautiful Milky Way in an environment without any light pollution.
In the morning, without a cell phone alarm, the calls of wild ducks will wake you up. When you wake up and open the curtains, the sun shines into the room, and you can also see a group of wild ducks flying out from the reeds in the distance from time to time.
The Four Seasons of Gaoyou Lake
On the small island in the middle of Gaoyou Lake, at the turn of spring and summer, the reeds are green and the waves are blue; in midsummer, the pond is full of lotus flowers and water chestnuts, the reeds rustle and the fragrance is everywhere; during the Double Ninth Festival, the fish are fat and the crabs are strong, and hundreds of fishing boats shuttle back and forth; in late autumn, the reeds are white and the sea of clouds is vast.
A scenery not to be missed
On a secluded island in the middle of a lake in Gaoyou, a vast reed marsh is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest reed maze. A boat trip through the nearly 2,000-acre reed maze offers a peaceful escape, reminiscent of the leisurely past.
You can catch fish with your bare hands in the river, and if you meet a kind boatman, he might even take you out to find wild duck eggs. Row to a pre-set trap and lift it, and you might just get a basket full of fish, shrimp, and crabs.
Essential Experiences at Gaoyou Lake
Crab catching is a must-do in autumn. As one of China's three major hairy crab producing areas, Gaoyou Lake boasts incredibly plump crabs. Every morning and evening, crabs from the breeding rooms crawl onto the nets, waiting to be caught. So, while strolling along the lakeside, you can often catch crabs along the paths. During October and November, when hairy crabs are in season, catching and eating them yourself at Gaoyou Lake is a rare experience you won't find elsewhere.
Every December, there is the Gaoyou Lake Fishing Festival, where you can catch the freshest wild fish with local fishermen, experience professional net casting, catch several large fish weighing more than ten kilograms, and learn how to prepare lake seafood with local chefs.
When you visit Gaoyou, an authentic salted duck egg producing area, you must try a bite of the greasy salted duck eggs. It is best to try making salted duck eggs by yourself and take them home as figurines.
Surrounding transportation
Gaoyou Lake Reed Marsh Wetland Park Address:
3 km west of the big wharf, Jieshou Town, Gaoyou City, Jiangsu Province
Transportation guide to Gaoyou Lake Reed Marsh Wetland Park from other places:
1. Gaoyou Exit of Beijing-Shanghai Expressway
Get off at Gaoyou Exit of Beijing-Shanghai Expressway, go straight onto Qinyou Road for 390 meters, then turn right onto Provincial Road S237 and drive 22 kilometers to reach Jieshou Town, Gaoyou City. Cross the Jieshou Canal Bridge to reach the scenic area.
2. Beijing-Shanghai Expressway Jieshou Exit
Get off at the Jieshou Exit of Beijing-Shanghai Expressway, turn left onto the Jielinsha Line, go straight to Ziying Gate, then turn left and cross the Jieshou Canal Bridge to reach the scenic area.
City Transportation Guide:
1. Take the Gaoyou-Linze bus and get off at Jieshou Wharf. Ticket price: 7 yuan.
2. Take a taxi at Gaoyou Nonggongshang bus stop. The ticket is 10 yuan.
Conclusion
Gaoyou Lake isn't as famous as other large lakes, nor as well-developed as Taihu Lake or Yangcheng Lake. Instead, it boasts the Grand Canal, which dates back to the Sui and Tang dynasties, and a fishing industry that's its mainstay. Here, you can enjoy a secluded lifestyle, working from sunrise to sunset.
In spring, you can row your boat in the reeds and wait for the fish to jump onto your boat; in summer, you can pick the freshest water chestnuts and turn them into the ultimate delicacy in the hands of Huaiyang cuisine chefs; in winter, you can go fishing with local fishermen during the winter fishing season and cook fresh lake food on the fishing boats. One bite of the fish here will overturn your understanding of fish.
