Xingkai Lake Lotus Tourist Area

　　Covering a total area of 4,380 square kilometers, the northern part belongs to China (1,080 square kilometers) and the southern part to Russia. It stretches 98 kilometers from north to south and 50 kilometers from east to west. With an average depth of 3 meters and a maximum depth of 10 meters, the lake is shaped like a gourd or a lute, with a water storage capacity of 28.3 billion cubic meters and first-class national water quality. It is renowned for its "vast waters and majestic presence." The smaller Xingkai Lake is an inland lake in China, covering an area of 176 square kilometers, and is famous for its "dense reed marshes, abundant fishing, and beautiful waters." It is a tectonic lake, formed approximately 100 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period when tectonic movements caused the Xingkai Lake region to subside along three fault lines. Initially a chain of bead-like lakes, they merged into three slightly larger ribbon-like lakes. By the mid-Paleogene period, the depression developed earliest, and the ribbon-like lakes gradually deepened, eventually connecting the three bodies of water into one vast expanse to form the large Xingkai Lake. By the end of the Paleogene period, the basin began to uplift, and the expansive Xingkai Lake gradually shrank. By the end of the Neogene period to the early Quaternary period, the central uplift zone emerged entirely above water. As the lake receded, it was divided into a northern and a southern lake by the central uplift zone.

　　Entering the Quaternary period, primarily influenced by tectonic movements as well as changes in climate temperature and humidity, six episodes of lake regression and one episode of lake transgression occurred, ultimately leaving behind this vast, sea-like oval lake in the southern part of the basin.

　　The Xingkai Lake wetland spans 2,225 square kilometers and connects with wetlands in Russia, making it one of the world’s three largest wetlands. The wetland is extremely rich in wildlife resources, hosting 235 species of globally important migratory birds, including nine Class I protected bird species: golden eagle, white-tailed eagle, Steller’s sea eagle, white-tailed sea eagle, oriental white stork, red-crowned crane, Siberian crane, white-naped crane, and scaly-sided merganser. There are over 100 wild red-crowned cranes inhabiting and breeding here, making it the country’s largest migratory bird "stopover station."

　　, earning it the reputation of being a "paradise for migratory birds."

　　The Manchurian whitefish (Xingkai Lake whitefish) is one of China’s four famous freshwater fish. The Chinese softshell turtle is an endangered animal species worldwide. The Xingkai Lake pine is a unique tree species native to this area.

　　6,800 years ago, the ancestors of the Manchu people—the Sushen—thrived here, creating the distinctive fishing and hunting civilization of the Xinkailiu Culture in the history of Chinese civilization. In the 1950s and 1960s, General -’s 100,000 demobilized officers and soldiers and millions of urban educated youths developed and constructed this area, giving birth to the great spirit of Beidahuang. Xingkai Lake boasts magical, simple, naturally beautiful, and pleasant scenery. Its geological heritage landscapes include the Greater and Lesser Xingkai Lakes, Hugang (Lake Ridge), Mifeng Mountain, Song’acha River Estuary, and volcanic crater relics. Ecological landscapes feature gatherings of thousands of birds at the lake outlet, vertical vegetation zones on Hugang, and the patchy forests on Northeast Pao Island. Cultural landscapes include the Neolithic fishing and hunting culture—Xinkailiu Site, the Beidahuang Memorial Hall, Mishan Port, and the Second Floodgate. Major scenic spots include Dangbizhen, Lotus, Mifeng Mountain, Xinkailiu, the First and Second Floodgates, Golden Beach, and Dragon King Temple.