Chongqing Caiyun Lake National Wetland Park

Chongqing Caiyun Lake National Wetland Park

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

Caiyun Lake National Wetland Park is located at the junction of Jiulongpo District and the High-Tech Zone in Chongqing, covering a total area of 83.1 hectares, with Jiulongpo District and the High-Tech Zone (40 hectares) developing it in separate zones. Originally a foul-smelling pond surrounded by the city, it has now been transformed into a picturesque landscape. The Chongqing Wetland Center plans to fully develop Caiyun Lake into a wetland park, turning it into the “Land of Peach Blossoms” of central Chongqing.

“Caiyun Lake Urban Wetland Park is not only the first national-level wetland park in Chongqing but also the largest ecological and urban wetland park in the main urban area,” introduced Wang Guiqiang, Director of the Jiulongpo District Municipal Gardening and Landscape Administration Bureau. Caiyun Lake Urban Wetland Park is located in Jiulongpo District and was formed by merging the originally planned Eastern Section of Erlang High-Tech Park and Taohua Stream Park. It was designated as Caiyun Lake Urban Wetland Park in 2009, with a total area of approximately 1,605 mu and an investment of 730 million yuan.

Caiyun Lake Reservoir is the first and largest artificial lake built in Chongqing’s main urban area. Planning began in 2003, and full-scale construction started in June 2007. According to the plan, the completed Caiyun Lake will feature a water surface area of about 300 mu and a water storage capacity of 1.68 million square meters, forming an ecological lake. Additionally, a high-tech park spanning 1,400 mu will be constructed adjacent to Caiyun Lake.

In 2016, Caiyun Lake National Wetland Park underwent an upgrade, focusing on connecting the lakeside footpath, adding three new scenic bridges, and ensuring barrier-free access along the lakeside route. Seventeen new cultural landscape nodes were added along the lakeside footpath tour route, with key features including Yunhu Twin Bridges, Taohua Peninsula, Shuanghui Lanyue, Shanlin Yanyu, and Fengyu Corridor Bridge, forming the “Ten Scenic Spots Around the Lake.”

On July 1, 2010, Chongqing’s first national-level wetland park—Caiyun Lake Park—officially opened to the public free of charge.

In 2005, with strong support and coordination from the Chongqing Municipal Gardening Bureau, the Municipal Planning Bureau, Jiulongpo District, and other related entities, the conceptual design and planning scheme of the park were officially initiated. Under the unified command and coordination of the Municipal Gardening Bureau, the park construction revolved around five core functions: “ecology, wetland, fitness, leisure, and recreation.” A comprehensive planning and unified design approach was adopted, with separate implementation by the two districts. The western section of the park commenced construction in December 2008 and was completed in October 2009; the eastern section’s new construction and the quality enhancement of the western section began in January 2010 and were completed on July 1, 2010.

In November 2009, experts from the National Forestry Department visited the park and designated it as a national-level urban wetland park. The park was officially named “Chongqing Caiyun Lake National Wetland Park.”

To align with its ambiance, the main style of Caiyun Lake Park is “three-dimensional wetland,” creating a combination of streams, ponds, and terraced fields, unfolding the wetland vertically. The streams and lakes mainly refer to Taohua Stream and Caiyun Lake, while the terraced fields denote the lakeside water purification system. A large number of weeping willows, metasequoias, and peach trees will also be planted along the lakeside.

Experts also plan to create a “Peach Blossom Island” in the lake. This island was originally a hill, surrounded by water on three sides with steep terrain, covered with numerous peach, plum, and weeping willow trees, and home to flocks of egrets and herons.

Main Attractions

Caiyun Lake Reservoir is the largest artificial wetland in the main urban area. Caiyun Lake Park is planned to consist of five relatively independent yet interconnected functional areas: the Ecological Landscape Area, primarily utilizing the existing Taohua River water system to form an artificial lake; the Jiulongba Cultural and Leisure Landscape Area, providing tourism, entertainment, and leisure services; the Sports and Leisure Area, featuring facilities such as soccer fields, tennis courts, and swimming pools; the Lakeside Landscape Area; and the Wetland Ecological Demonstration Area, which will create a rare urban wetland landscape around the Taohua Stream. Over 50,000 plants within the wetland park have begun to play a role in silt purification. The park has become a destination for citizens to enjoy free leisure, sports, fitness, spring outings, and ecological science education, offering activities suitable for all ages such as fishing, camping, picnicking, and birdwatching.

Travel Information

Take bus routes 117, 466, 807, or BRT (brt section) and get off at Caiyun Lake.