Thousand Islands Lake actually has 1,078 islands dotting a lake that covers 567.4 square kilometers.

The artificial lake, also known as Qiandao Lake, is located in Chun’an County in the southwest part of Hangzhou. In 1959, Xin’anjiang Dam, which is used to generate electricity, created a reservoir that turned thousands of mountaintops into islands, forming the present-day Thousand Islands Lake.

Due to the lake and the forest, Thousand Islands Lake boasts a comfortable climate, a favorable natural environment and abundant sightseeing. Nature also has endowed the area with many sources of food that locals turn into exquisite delicacies, treating tourists from home and abroad.

Shanghai Daily planned out a trip of some 72 hours at the lake covering many of its scenic spots and a sampling of its local food. The trip does not include everything to see there, so return trips may be worthwhile, but it will provide you with a good overview of what’s available. 9am-11am

Take a long distance bus at Hangzhou West Bus Station. Buses leave every 40 minutes, from 6am to 6:50pm. From Shanghai, you can take the bullet train at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station to Hangzhou East Railway Station, then take the No. B4 bus to the station.

11:30am-12:30pm

It’s lunch time when you reach Thousand Islands Lake. Take a taxi to the famous restaurant at Thousand Islands Lake Tower. The restaurant offers traditional local cuisine, including corn cake and rice soup. The corn cake is crisp and mellow, with preserved vegetables topping it. It is a common local dessert served at Thousand Islands Lake.

The rice soup also makes a frequent appearance on natives’ tables. It is said that during years of famine in the past, the soup helped the locals survive. Unlike the thin rice soup of the past, today it contains rice, meat and local vegetables.

Day 1

1pm-5pm

After a brief rest, take a taxi to Shilin Town, which has the largest stone forest in southeast China. The trip takes an hour on zigzag mountain roads through beautiful rural scenery.

The stone forest is karst, which is an area of irregular rock formed by erosion. Many paths between huge stones that make up the stone forest maze are so narrow you have to walk sideways to get through. 

The grey stones take on different shapes. Lotus-like stalagmites are shaped like Buddha’s pedestal, and you may also find unusual rocks that look like busts of Beethoven or Karl Marx, rabbits, camels or pigs.

On the top of the stone forest is the Number One Scholar Pavilion — such pavilions often were built in ancient China to honor locals who made the top score in an imperial examination. This one was built to commemorate local businessman Shang Lu of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Shang took first place in the exam and entered the royal court as a secretary. He won admiration in his hometown for being upright, decorous, generous and tolerant.

Zhangliang Cave is a spot shrouded in mysterious legends. Zhang Liang was a statesman who contributed greatly to the founding of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). It is said that there he encountered the reclusive wise man Huang Shigong, who gave him the legendary military strategy book “The Art of War by Taigong,” also called “Jiang Taigong’s Six Secret Strategic Teachings.”

Leaving the Shilin Scenic Area, there is a type of local bed and breakfast “happy farmhouse” where you can buy homemade Chinese rice wine.

Rice wine has a long tradition in Asia. Thousand Islands Lake people still practice the traditional skill of making rice wine, which is often used in family feasts.

The rice wine usually is sweet and fragrant, with a low alcohol content. Four liters of rice wine costs only 20 yuan (US$3.2). Cooling down the rice wine in a refrigerator makes it taste more refreshing and aromatic.

6:30pm-7:30pm

When night falls, the Cheerday Beer Square, actually an open-air food court, becomes a hangout for tourists and locals. It is situated near the Cheerday Beer factory, which is a popular brand with Zhejiang people.

On hot days, organizers set up a huge sunshade and fans to deal with the sun and temperature. Every day about 300 guests come to eat here, so booking beforehand is recommended.

The food stall operates from April to October, closing at 10pm. From 7pm to 8:30pm, there are wonderful stage performances with singing and dancing.

The food court serves classic Thousand Islands Lake delicacies, like local soft-shell turtle, bamboo shoots and yubie (a kind of local bullfrog). Cheerday beer is free as long as you order food.

Food from the Thousand Islands Lake area is influenced by Anhui Province due to its geographical proximity and tends to be much spicier than most Hangzhou cuisine. Chilies are a common ingredient used in their food.

Chefs braise soft-shell turtle with mushrooms, chilies, preserved pork and soy sauce. Yubie is cooked in a similar way. Pungent turtle and yubie go well with a cool beer.

Thousand Islands Lake bamboo shoots also are famous in China. Local chefs often cook it in a soup with ham and preserved pork.

Day 2

8am-10am

The second day begins with a trip to picturesque lake and islands scenery. The Thousand Islands Lake Scenic Area is comprised of five parts, the central, southeast, southwest, northeast and northwest lake zones.

Seeing all of the lake zones in a single day is difficult, so picking several spots to get a panoramic view of Thousand Islands Lake is a wise choice.

You can take a speedboat at the wharf at the Thousand Islands Lake downtown area. On board, numerous tiny islands zip by, and the combination of the brilliant colors, fresh air and waves provides a rare sensory experience and an opportunity to get closer to nature.

The first destination is Huangshanjian in the southeast lake zone, which provides a bird’s-eye view of more than 90 islands. Huangshanjian reaches an altitude of 266 meters, and is listed as the highest among the group of islands called the Pearl Islands.

You can take a cable car to the top. At the sightseeing platform, you can see small islands scattered on the blue-green lake that form a Chinese character, “¹«”. The platform also has a telescope; you can insert a 1 yuan coin to get a closer look.

Part of the platform is made up of transparent blocks, allowing visitors standing on it to see the thriving vegetation below. Overlooking the lake, you can see a faraway mountain range partly hidden in haze and yachts shuttling between islands.

10:30am-12pm

Tianchi Island is also situated in the southeast lake zone. It is easy to go between Huangshanjian and Tianchi Island by speedboat. Tianchi means “heaven pond” in Chinese.

In the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), the court made Hangzhou the capital. Officials picked chayuan stone from the island to use in building the royal palace. 

Longtime quarrying formed seven ponds in the island. The island’s name was changed from Gem to Tianchi.

Today, the ponds are used as a fish viewing spot, where plenty of fancy carp swim back and forth. You can buy food to feed them. The large school of fish will chase the food and jump out of the water with a splash.

The island is home to the Chinese red-billed leiothrix. Since it has many birds, it has been developed into an aviary and bird sanctuary, including parrots, swans and cormorants. Other birds have been introduced, such as flamingoes and ostriches, increasing the species diversity.

There are an estimated 3,000 birds on the island. The island’s attractions include a viewing platform, parrot corridor, waterfowl garden, bird art show, bird hospital, cormorant fishing and swan lake.

The bird art show is popular with tourists, who like to see the smart parrots mimicking Chinese and riding a mini-bicycle. If people hold paper money in their hands, the parrots immediately fly up to the crowd and grab it.  

12:30pm-1:30pm

It’s time for lunch after a morning of sightseeing on the islands. Take the speedboat to Meifeng Island to sample the local cuisine in a restaurant called Song Feng Ge.

The restaurant is always crowded with diners. The signature dish served here is locally produced chicken. The free-range chickens in Thousand Islands Lake feed on natural fodder, which makes the meat more tender and tastier than other chicken.  

A special dish offered here is fern stirred with dried bean curd. Thousand Islands Lake is rich in ferns. Natives pick off the young stems of ferns as an edible vegetable.

Another uncommon dish is lichen fried with tofu. The lichen, a composite organism made up of fungus usually growing symbiotically with algae, is believed to enhance immunity and lower blood pressure.

Dishes here usually include soybeans in one form or another. Making tofu is a traditional craft for most Thousand Islands Lake rural folks.

The tofu in a clay pot is a must-have at feasts among locals, and it usually is braised with preserved meat. It is, of course, served at Song Feng Ge.2pm-3:30pm

Having dined to satisfaction, let’s climb the hill on Meifeng Island. Mei means plum blossom in Chinese. It was named so because it is shaped like a plum blossom with five other tiny islands surrounding it. Years ago, the local government planted plum trees on the island. In early spring, it becomes a favorite place to view plum blossoms. 

You can take the cable car, which costs 20 yuan (US$3.3) per person, to the hilltop, or hike. The viewing platform on Meifeng is considered the best spot for a panoramic view of Thousand Islands Lake — it’s possible to see more than 300 islands.

The fastest way to go back down is the grass slide. The 100-meter-long slide is at a 30 degree angle and covered with thick plastic grass. People sit in a sled and zip to the bottom. It costs 15 yuan per person.

4pm-5pm

When Thousand Islands Lake began to develop its tourism industry in the 1980s, they picked what is now named Monkey Island as a breeding center for macaques under the supervision of the China Academy of Social Sciences. The macaques were bred successfully by combining free-range with artificial feeding.

Thereafter, more and more monkey varieties were taken to the island, including rhesus, guenon, potto and machin. In 1991, it opened to tourists. People could go ashore to feed and take pictures with monkeys.

6pm-7pm

Fish from Thousand Islands Lake is considered tastier and more tender because of the lake’s favorable and unpolluted environment. Eating fish from the lake is considered a treat.

Yuwei Guan is one of the oldest restaurants of Thousand Islands Lake. It opened in 1980s when the government started to encourage tourism at the lake. It remains a favorite and is usually busy.

The signature dish is Thousand Islands Lake fish head soup. The fish head is taken from a large bighead carp. Salt is the only seasoning used in cooking the soup. After hours of braising, the soup turns white and gives off a mellow smell.

The tail and fins of the bighead carp are turned into another dish. They are fried in oil and prepared with soy sauce, then topped with pickled vegetables.

The fish ball soup is also a favorite at the restaurant. The made-from-scratch fish balls are made of the meat of the chub, without egg white or starch. They taste mild and are nutrient dense. 

Another specialty is swim bladder stewed in soy sauce. Chefs use every organ of the fish, and the swim bladder is abundant in collagen, which is believed to have anti-aging properties. The swim bladder is al dente and smooth, without a fishy smell.

Thousand Islands Lake shrimps also are popular with diners. The wild shrimps are small. In order to keep the shrimps palatable and tender, chef cooks them simply, boiled in water with garlic and ginger, adding only a pinch of salt.

Day 3

8am-9am

The third day in Thousand Islands Lake is a good time for history and culture. Qinchuan Village is about an hour from downtown Thousand Islands Lake, and you can rent a car or take a taxi to get there on the 45-kilometer-long, charming Qianfen Road.

The road goes along the northwest side of the lake and connects with Fenkou Town in the south and Thousand Islands Lake Bridge in the north.

It also is ideal for bicycling. A yearly bike race along the road attracts hundreds of riders from around the world. There are old post houses where riders can rest and replenish their energy. And there are also dozens of “happy farmhouses” for savoring authentic cuisine or staying overnight. Stalls sell freshly picked fruit in season.

9am-11:30am

A covered bridge with traditional upturned eaves welcomes you at Qinchuan Village. It is Jinde Bridge, built in the Tongzhi Period of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

The village is separated into two parts by a creek that is so clean that you can see tiny fish swimming in it. You may wade barefoot.

Stone bridges cross the creek, and thriving willows and camphor trees grow nearby. The oldest camphor tree is 800 years old. Local residents sit in the shade, washing clothes and vegetables in the creek. Some 60 percent of the buildings have upturned eaves, carved beams and painted rafters in the style of Hui buildings erected in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

12pm-1:30pm

The Shicheng Museum is a good place to learn about the area’s history. Present-day Jiangjia Town is not far from the site of Shicheng, a county-level city that, up until 54 years ago, had been inhabited for nearly 2,000 years. Built in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), Shicheng and its cultural and historic relics are now underwater. In 1959, in order to build Xin’anjiang Dam, the ancient city was submerged and locals left for other places.

The place is intact at the lake bottom. The museum built a detailed model showing how Shicheng looked. Using underwater studies, Shicheng’s city wall, streets, residential buildings, ancestral temples, memorial archways and pagoda were reproduced. Old photos from former residents are hung on walls. Other customs, legends and cultural details are explained at the museum. Afterwards, grab a bite in Jiangjia Town.

2pm-5pm

If visiting from May to September, you shouldn’t miss the whitewater rafting. The Longmen Rafting of Zuokou Town attracts tons of tourists with its pollution-free whitewater and different degrees of difficulty. Each inflatable boat accommodates two persons. The cost is 100 yuan (US$16.3) per person.

7pm-8pm

Downtown in Thousand Islands Lake Square, watch outdoor line dancing on a large scale. The square accommodates around 1,000 people Ñ most of whom are middle-aged women.9am-11am

The last hours in Thousand Islands Lake are relaxing — the destination is a kayak at the downtown Lakers Kayak Club.

The club trainer will give you professional guidance, including the use of life jacket and paddle, the fundamental knowledge of the kayak, and how to launch, pull up and navigate.

The kayak may seem unsteady and tips from side to side if you move your body. Once you sit in the kayak you may be afraid that it will turn over.

But take it easy, the trainer will follow you and show you how to manipulate the kayak when you feel unsteady.

After a few minutes of adapting, you might be accustomed to the movement of the kayak and begin to enjoy the sport.

The lake is as calm as a mirror, and fish jump out of the water occasionally. You can paddle the kayak to your heart’s content, navigating toward the hundreds of islands in the distance. Hilton Hangzhou Qiandao Lake Resort

The Hilton resort at Qiandao (Thousand Islands) Lake has a total of 348 rooms and suites, all with good views of Qiandao Lake or the mountains, and wireless Internet access. Most have a private balcony, and they offer 24-hour room service. Food ranging from Asian and Western cuisine to Hangzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing specialties are available. The fitness center is well-equipped and there are four swimming pools. Located near the Hangxinjing Expressway exit, it’s a little over an hour from Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport and about three hours from Shanghai.

Tel: (0571) 6508-6666

Address: 600 Huanhu Rd N., Qiandao Lake, Chun’an

Website: http://www.hilton.com.cn/HGHLR/Sheraton Qiandao Lake Resort

Located by the beautiful shores of Qiandao Lake and mountains, the Sheraton resort offers 249 guest rooms and suites, all with Sheraton Sweet Sleeper beds, 37-inch LCD televisions with satellite TV and high speed Internet access. There are four outdoor swimming pools and a fitness center.

Tel: (0571) 6488-8888

Address: Xin’an Rd N., Qiandao Lake, Chun’anAirfare special to Malaysia

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