Jiaogang Lake Scenic Area in Huainan City

Jiaogang Lake Scenic Area in Huainan City

Jiaogang Lake Scenic Area in Huainan City is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction, a national water conservancy scenic area, a national wetland park, and a patriotic education base.

The Jiaogang Lake Ecotourism Resort is located in the southwestern part of Huainan City, about 1 kilometer north of Maoji Town and adjacent to Provincial Highway 102, offering convenient transportation. Known for its "water," Jiaogang Lake lies east of the scenic Bagong Mountain and south of the historic and cultural city of Shou County, forming a unique golden tourism triangle of mountain, water, and city. The resort features a beautiful environment and pleasant climate, offering a variety of water landscapes such as reed marshes (a paradise for birds), lotus ponds, Xianlv Lake, Fishing Sightseeing Park, and lakeside houses, as well as leisure activities like lakeside fishing, exploring the reed marshes, boating for water chestnuts, bird-watching on the lake, fishing village fun, and speeding across the waves. It also offers specialty products such as Jiaohu Red-heart Duck Eggs, aromatic fermented fish, dried live fish, crystal tribute dumplings, and spiced dog meat. Additionally, there are beautiful legends such as “Immortal Couple Descends to Earth,” “The Black Dragon’s Misfortune,” “The Monkey God’s Treasure Hunt,” and “Emperor Zhao Kuangyin Trapped in Southern Tang,” making it an untouched ecotourism gem. In July 2004, Maoji Experimental Zone was awarded the first batch of “National Agricultural Tourism Demonstration Sites,” and in February 2005, Jiaogang Lake Tourist Area was designated as an “Anhui Provincial Agritainment Tourism Demonstration Site.”

Jiaogang Lake is 30 kilometers from Huainan City and 120 kilometers from Hefei. It can be directly accessed via the Hefei-Huainan-Fuyang Expressway and Provincial Highway 102, with the Maoji exit of the expressway just 3 kilometers away from the Jiaogang Lake Scenic Area.

The rippling waters of Jiaogang Lake are formed by the convergence of 18 rivers from areas such as Yingzhou and Lu’an, resembling a piece of jade bestowed by nature, inlaid in the Huaibei Plain. The wetland is rich in vegetation, featuring tens of thousands of acres of reed marshes and thousands of acres of lotus ponds, making it one of the best-preserved ecological areas in Anhui Province. Wetlands are known as the “kidneys of the Earth” and, together with forests and wildlife, form the main body of terrestrial ecosystems, playing an irreplaceable role in maintaining and optimizing the ecological environment. Jiaogang Lake Wetland nurtures an extremely rich variety of species and has great ornamental and ecological regulatory value. The “tens of thousands of acres of reed marshes,” “thousands of acres of lotus ponds,” wetland vegetation, and numerous birds and fish are the main components of its biodiversity. In an era when most wetlands have been damaged by reclamation, Jiaogang Lake Wetland Ecosystem remains one of the few wild natural wetland communities, characterized by its primitiveness, rarity, and biodiversity. Jiaogang Lake has over 60,000 acres of fishable waters, with excellent water quality and a diverse aquatic population. Among them, Jiaogang Lake hairy crabs, green shrimp, and mandarin fish have been awarded National Grade A Green Food certificates and are exported to Europe and America, making it one of China’s Green Food bases.

Jiaogang Lake is home to a large number of bird species, with wild geese being the most striking. Most of the geese here are semi-wild, raised through artificial release. Since 1999, attempts have been made to domesticate geese at Jiaogang Lake. Geese not only have beautiful plumage and warm, lightweight down but also delicious meat, offering high economic and ornamental value. As the ancient saying goes, “Better to eat four ounces of fowl than half a pound of beast.” Today, domestically raised geese have expanded from a single species, the swan goose, to include four varieties: swan goose, bean goose, gray goose, and snow goose.

The resort features a beautiful environment and pleasant climate, offering a variety of water landscapes such as reed marshes (a paradise for birds), lotus ponds, Xianlv Lake, Fishing Sightseeing Park, and lakeside houses, as well as leisure activities like lakeside fishing, exploring the reed marshes, boating for water chestnuts, bird-watching on the lake, fishing village fun, and speeding across the waves. It also offers specialty products such as Jiaohu Red-heart Duck Eggs, aromatic fermented fish, dried live fish, crystal tribute dumplings, and spiced dog meat. Additionally, there are beautiful legends such as “Immortal Couple Descends to Earth,” “The Black Dragon’s Misfortune,” “The Monkey God’s Treasure Hunt,” and “Emperor Zhao Kuangyin Trapped in Southern Tang,” making it an untouched ecotourism gem.

Jiaogang Lake, together with Bagong Mountain Forest Park and the historic city of Shou County, forms a unique mountain-water-city tourism triangle and is an important highlight along the northwest Anhui golden tourism route. In July 2004, Maoji Experimental Zone was awarded the first batch of “National Agricultural Tourism Demonstration Sites,” and in February 2005, Jiaogang Lake Tourist Area was designated as an “Anhui Provincial Agritainment Tourism Demonstration Site.”

Recently, the National Tourism Attractions Quality Rating Committee issued Announcement No. 4 of 2009, awarding Jiaogang Lake Scenic Area the status of a National AAAA-level Tourist Attraction.

The tourism resources of Jiaogang Lake are a combination of natural and cultural landscapes. The area boasts a beautiful environment, pleasant climate, and numerous attractions. Its tourism resources are uniquely characterized by millennia of Huai River folk culture, the Oriental Ballet—Flower Drum Lantern, the largest reed marshes in East China, distinctive lakeside fishing villages, and delicious, memorable fishing village cuisine. The surrounding area is also rich in tourism resources: to the north lies Maoxian Ancient Cave, to the east the picturesque Bagong Mountain, to the south the historic city of Shou County, and to the west the Balihe Scenic Area, all forming part of the northwest Anhui golden tourism route and the Huai River cultural tour. Jiaogang Lake also features many beautiful legends, such as “Sacred Lotus,” “Sacred Boat,” “The Black Dragon’s Misfortune,” and “Emperor Zhao Kuangyin Trapped in Southern Tang,” making it an untouched ecotourism gem. Major attractions include Lakeside Houses, Reed Marshes, Lotus Ponds, Orioles in the Willow Waves, Fishing Sightseeing Park, Water Amusement Park, Huai River Culture Garden, and Eco-Farmsteads. Key activities include exploring the reed maze, agritainment experiences, fresh fish banquets, leisurely boat rides to view lotuses, Flower Drum Lantern performances, Jiaogang Goose Dances, fishing, and water amusement.

Maoji Town: Located on the beautiful and fertile banks of the Huai River, Maoji Town in the Maoji Social Development Comprehensive Experimental Zone of Huainan City, Anhui Province, is known as the “Pearl of the Huai.” It covers an area of 65 square kilometers and has a population of 53,000.

In 1993, Maoji was upgraded from a township to a town; in July 1994, it was approved as a “National Social Development Comprehensive Experimental Zone” by 28 ministries including the State Science and Technology Commission, State Planning Commission, State Economic Restructuring Commission, and Ministry of Construction, and was listed as a “National Small Town Construction Demonstration Town” by the end of the same year; in 1996, it was further listed as a “National Small Town Comprehensive Reform Pilot...” More details about Maoji Town++