Lancang River

Lancang River

Lancang River

The Lancang River flows through Yun County for a total distance of 176.5 km. Since the 1980s, the state has successively built two large hydropower stations on this section of the river — the million-kilowatt-level Manwan Hydropower Station and the Dachaoshan Hydropower Station. The towering dam walls of these two power stations rose abruptly from the earth, creating two serene, picturesque high-mountain flat lakes connected like steps, as well as a hundred-li-long lake, namely the high-mountain flat lake in the Manwan Reservoir area and the hundred-li-long lake stretching 91.3 km from the Manwan Hydropower Station to the Dachaoshan Hydropower Station. Due to the combined effect of the two dams in raising the water level, the originally towering green mountains appear shorter, forming numerous large and small bays and peninsulas. The lake surface has thus become winding and twisting, with uniquely varied shapes. Looking out over the lake, the water is a vast expanse of brilliant blue, backed by continuous ranges of green mountains. Mountain and water complement each other, blending into a single hue of water and sky.

Boating on the lake, the scenery changes with every movement of the boat — a new view at every step — giving one the distinct feeling of “clearly seeing the mountaintops, yet sailing atop them,” and irresistibly recalling Li Bai’s poetic line, “The monkeys’ cries on both banks never cease; the light boat has already passed ten thousand layered peaks.” The surrounding fertile fields, flowers, trees, and leisurely grazing livestock, along with the ethnic minority villages hidden within the lush greenery, together compose a picturesque and dreamlike pastoral symphony — a blissful scene where heaven, water, and humanity coexist in harmony, and people and nature are intimately united.