Hengshui Lake National Wetland Park

Hengshui Lake National Wetland Park

Hengshui Lake National Wetland Park is a national-level wetland park.

Hengshui Lake lies to the north of Hengshui City and connects to the ancient city of Jizhou in the south. With a water surface area of 75 square kilometers, it is the largest single freshwater lake in North China, a national nature reserve, a national water conservancy scenic area, and also a nationally significant wetland of great rarity and typicality. It provides essential ecological services including water conservation, air purification, pollution degradation, and biodiversity maintenance, directly influencing the climate and ecological quality of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. It is hailed as the “First Lake South of Beijing,” “Most Beautiful Wetland in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region,” “Green Pearl of North China,” and “Blue Sapphire of East Asia.”

Hengshui Lake boasts rich biodiversity and is a gathering place for flora and fauna of the North Temperate Zone. The lake area hosts 383 species of plants, 34 species of fish, 416 species of insects, 17 species of amphibians and reptiles, 20 species of mammals, and 310 species of birds. Among them, there are seven species of Class I nationally protected birds: red-crowned crane, Siberian crane, oriental white stork, black stork, great bustard, golden eagle, and white-shouldered eagle. There are also 46 species of Class II nationally protected birds, including whooper swan, tundra swan, mandarin duck, white-naped crane, and common crane.

Hengshui Lake has a long and storied history. Legend has it that it bears the “traces of Yu,” left behind by Yu the Great during his flood control efforts. The southern shore, Jizhou, was once known as the “Foremost of the Nine Provinces,” from which Hebei Province’s abbreviation “Ji” originates. Historical research indicates that many ancient rivers, including the Yellow River, Zhang River, Hutuo River, and Fuyang River, once flowed through this area, creating a vast expanse of water stretching for hundreds of li. During the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao successively trained their naval forces here. To this day, the lake area still retains numerous relics of ancient river courses and historic cultures.