Escaping the heat wave at Wuxi’s Taihu Lake
Print Edition
IF you are looking for a weekend excursion close to Shanghai to get away from the summer heat wave, Yuantouzhu in the city of Wuxi is an easily accessible destination via high-speed rail that offers secluded natural sceneries, peaceful trails and rich history.
Yuantouzhu, also known as the Turtle Head Isle because the shape of this land resembles the head of a giant Asian softshell turtle, is a peninsula by the northwestern shore of Taihu Lake, one of the largest freshwater lakes in China spreading across Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.
The Yuantouzhu Scenic Area in Jiangsu Province is celebrating its centennial this year. It’s perhaps the best place to enjoy the complete and unreserved beauty of Taihu Lake.
Upon entering Yuantouzhu in the early morning, I started my day trip from the northeastern side of the scenic area where two 5-kilometer-long parallel pathways by the hill and water are connecting several attractions along the way, including the Hushan Cottage, Rujing Mansion and Daixian Pavilion.
Shuijing Garden is a section of tranquil waters that has gone through the ages of reclamation of land from lake, restoration from paddy fields to fishing pond and eventually returned to the form of lake. There are a few dawn redwood trees around the lake, and the stone bridge now named Fanying Bridge was originally built during Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and moved here from the Zhuanshui River by the north side of Wuxi in 1983.
Between the foot of Luding Mountain’s highest peak and the northwestern side of the Chongshan Mountain, there is a flat ground that was once used as farm field and fruit garden. In the 1950s, this location became a nursery garden, and the area expanded to over 130,000 square meters by the 1970s. The nursery garden opened to the public in 1985 when it was merged with the Yuantouzhu park.
In the center of the Chongshan nursery garden, a green pool is home to a rare kind of freshwater jellyfish that locals refer to as “peach blossom jellyfish” because of its petal-like shape. The tiny and transparent jellyfish can be seen on sunny days when the water is clear and still.
Xingchun Bridge, located on the west bank of the pond, has a rectangular pavilion where visitors can take a few minutes to sit down and relax.
An ancient fishing boat with seven masts was docked at the bank of Taihu Lake. It was acquired by the scenic area in 1999 from a local fisherman for 210,000 yuan (US$31,523). Originally built as war ship and then transformed into a fishing boat, it is made of cedar wood. The seven masts include three tall ones in the middle and four shorter ones on the side.
Yuantouzhu has recreated three seven-mast boats to transport visitors. The 105-yuan ticket for adults include not only entry to the scenic area, but also admission to the Fairy Island as well as round-trip sightseeing boat tours to and from the island.
Sailing off from the Yuantouzhu dock, the boat tours give visitors an unblocked panorama view of the Taihu Lake. There are 72 peaks around the beautiful lake.
Guangfu Temple, which was built in 1924 on the hill, is another major attraction inside Yuantouzhu. The 15-yuan vegan noodle bowl served for lunch was delicious.
Colorful flowers
Although Yuantouzhu is most known for Taihu Lake, it’s also a floral paradise where visitors can enjoy vibrant and colorful flowers throughout the year.
The Chongshan nursery garden has a special section built in Japanese garden style that houses different species of iris flowers. Now is the best time to appreciate the full blossom of iris flowers as most of them bloom in summer (June to July).
The garden design took advantage of the original landscape, using the rough stone pavements and wooden bridges to balance the elegant beauty of the colorful iris flowers.
The cherry blossom valley inside Yuantouzhu is among the top destinations to enjoy the pink seas of flowers in spring. When the valley opened to the public in 2010, there were more than 30,000 cherry blossom trees.
Every March, Yuantouzhu hosts the international cherry blossom festival when the flowers reach full blossom. Visitors can enjoy the beautiful flowers in many locations across the park.
The Jiangnan Orchid Garden is another highlight of the main park. Although the ticket to the scenic area does not include entry to the garden, it’s worthwhile to pay an extra 8 yuan to enjoy the peace and tranquility. Local Wuxi people have bred orchids for centuries, and some of the best orchid masters in history like Shen Yuan lived here.
The garden now breeds more than 180 species of orchids in several temperature-controlled pavilions and greenhouses; it’s especially known for its cymbidium orchids.
Inside Luyunxuan, a traditional house with three glass walls, the temperature is kept at around 18 degrees Celsius all year round. Several more common orchid species like butterfly orchid and boat orchid can be found here. Looking outside also gave me an unblocked view of the classic waterside Chinese garden surrounded by bamboo trees.
The larger greenhouse with an area of 600 square meters located on the northeastern side of the garden is an adventurous place to discover more species of orchids as well as tropical plants like Vriesea poelmannii. Inside there are several rooms hosting more than 2,300 pots of plants from 200 species, and it’s the best place in the garden to observe the orchid leaves.
The Yuantouzhu park opens from 8am to 5:30pm in the summertime and 8:30am to 5pm in winter.
If you go:
You can get to Wuxi from Shanghai by taking the high-speed train. The south square of Wuxi Train Station offers two direct sightseeing buses to Yuantouzhu, while a taxi will cost about 45 yuan.
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