Gaodu Tourist Resort

Gaodu Tourist Resort

Located at the southern tip of a peninsula extending 51 li from the town center of Gaodu toward the lake’s heart, this peninsula forms the dividing line between Hongze Lake and Chengzi Lake. A closer look reveals a seamless blend of water and sky in a brilliant shade of blue; dotted with white sails, echoing with fishermen's songs; cormorants playing in the water while swallows and starlings dart through the air; vast expanses of misty waters stretch into the distance, creating an ethereal scene. Had the great poet Wang Bo seen this, he would surely have exclaimed: “A flurry of egrets dances amid the sunset glow, as autumn waters merge seamlessly with the blue sky.”

Hongze Lake boasts not only breathtaking scenery and pleasant landscapes but also a rich historical and cultural heritage. During the Anti-Japanese War, veteran proletarian revolutionaries —, Chen Yi, Zhang Aiping, Huang Kecheng, and Wei Guoqing, among others, established the Huaihai and Huaibei Anti-Japanese Base Areas with Hongze Lake as their strategic base. In those years, Chen Peihua, commander of the Siyang County Brigade, the puppet army leader Gao Zhujui, bandit leader Wei Yousan, and the lake tyrant Liu Siluanzi, along with over a thousand men, more than forty armored boats, and hundreds of sailboats, occupied Hongze Lake, turning the entire area into a lawless zone. In May 1941, to support the development of the base areas, Comrade Zhang Aiping personally led the New Fourth Army’s 9th Brigade in an offensive against the puppets, diehards, bandits, and tyrants in the Hongze Lake region. After numerous fierce battles, this malignant tumor was completely eradicated, establishing a solid rear base for the Anti-Japanese Base Area.