Gaoyang Pinghu

Gaoyang Pinghu

Gaoyang Pinghu is located in Gaoyang Town in the northwest of Yunyang, about 24 kilometers from the county seat, covering an area of 135 square kilometers. The area boasts a harmonious blend of natural scenery and cultural landscapes, creating a green garden-like tableau where the city nestles among mountains, forests lie within the urban fabric, and water and land merge seamlessly.

Gaoyang Town in Yunyang County is a major rural resettlement hub in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area. Covering an area of 25 square kilometers, Gaoyang Pinghu is the largest lake in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area connected to the Yangtze River, with a total shoreline stretching 70 kilometers. It has been designated by the Yunyang County Party Committee and County Government as the northern wing of the county’s “one core, two wings” tourism industry development plan, and is being developed as a key ecological tourism project. The picturesque Gaoyang also boasts rich historical and cultural heritage, preserving cultural relics such as the Lijiaba Cultural Site—one of China’s top ten archaeological discoveries—the Mingyueba Tang Dynasty small town architectural ruins known as the “Second Greatest Tang City in China,” and the Xiahuangshi Filial Piety Memorial Archway. Yunyang plans to develop the area into the largest wetland park scenic zone in the reservoir region.

Gaoyang Lake is a vast, over 50-square-kilometer flat lake formed by the backflow of water from the Three Gorges Reservoir into the Pengxi River basin. The Pengxi River flows from north to south into the Yangtze River. Centered around the Pengxi River, with Huanglingba and Dongxihu forming its eastern and western wings, Gaoyang Lake was initially planned to consist of five zones: the Dongxidam Leisure Resort Zone, the Mingyueba Eco-Leisure Cultural Zone, the Huanglingba Water Sports and Leisure Zone, the Gaoyang Resettlement Culture Zone, and the Dailizi Canyon Tourist Zone. The scenic area features a basin-like terrain, with distant mountains, nearby waters, and a harmonious composition of encircling peaks, lake islands, and bays. The area is rich in tourism resources, with elevations ranging from 100 to 1,100 meters. Nestled among rolling mountains is a stretch of emerald water, dotted with 15 peninsulas and over 4 islets. The lakeshore is lined with interlocking peninsulas and crisscrossing inlets, forming a stunning landscape where lake and mountain scenery blend as one. There are six cultural sites listed on the National Cultural Relics Distribution Map and the National Cultural Relics Distribution List, all of significant historical, artistic, and scientific value. According to a tourism resource survey, the area contains six first-class scenic spots, two second-class spots, eight third-class spots, and eight fourth-class spots. Cruising through the area, visitors are treated to a beautiful scroll of natural and cultural wonders: emerald-green waters, singing cooking smoke, dreamlike mist, vibrant mountain flowers, lush peaks, newly built immigrant towns with white walls and black tiles, the towering 48-Slot Forest Park resembling a sky-supporting ridge, and majestic ancient structures such as Zushi Temple, Guanxing Fort, Yong’an Fort, Yunfeng Tower, and Wutong Bridge—all in diverse and splendid styles—creating a breathtaking landscape that inspires tranquility, imagination, and endless reverie.