72 hours in Thousand Islands Lake
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, September 10, 2013
Day 2
8am-10am
The second day begins with a trip to picturesque lake and islands scenery. The Thousand Islands Lake Scenic Area is comprised of five parts, the central, southeast, southwest, northeast and northwest lake zones.
Seeing all of the lake zones in a single day is difficult, so picking several spots to get a panoramic view of Thousand Islands Lake is a wise choice.
You can take a speedboat at the wharf at the Thousand Islands Lake downtown area. On board, numerous tiny islands zip by, and the combination of the brilliant colors, fresh air and waves provides a rare sensory experience and an opportunity to get closer to nature.
The first destination is Huangshanjian in the southeast lake zone, which provides a bird’s-eye view of more than 90 islands. Huangshanjian reaches an altitude of 266 meters, and is listed as the highest among the group of islands called the Pearl Islands.
You can take a cable car to the top. At the sightseeing platform, you can see small islands scattered on the blue-green lake that form a Chinese character, “¹«”. The platform also has a telescope; you can insert a 1 yuan coin to get a closer look.
Part of the platform is made up of transparent blocks, allowing visitors standing on it to see the thriving vegetation below. Overlooking the lake, you can see a faraway mountain range partly hidden in haze and yachts shuttling between islands.
10:30am-12pm
Tianchi Island is also situated in the southeast lake zone. It is easy to go between Huangshanjian and Tianchi Island by speedboat. Tianchi means “heaven pond” in Chinese.
In the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), the court made Hangzhou the capital. Officials picked chayuan stone from the island to use in building the royal palace.
Longtime quarrying formed seven ponds in the island. The island’s name was changed from Gem to Tianchi.
Today, the ponds are used as a fish viewing spot, where plenty of fancy carp swim back and forth. You can buy food to feed them. The large school of fish will chase the food and jump out of the water with a splash.
The island is home to the Chinese red-billed leiothrix. Since it has many birds, it has been developed into an aviary and bird sanctuary, including parrots, swans and cormorants. Other birds have been introduced, such as flamingoes and ostriches, increasing the species diversity.
There are an estimated 3,000 birds on the island. The island’s attractions include a viewing platform, parrot corridor, waterfowl garden, bird art show, bird hospital, cormorant fishing and swan lake.
The bird art show is popular with tourists, who like to see the smart parrots mimicking Chinese and riding a mini-bicycle. If people hold paper money in their hands, the parrots immediately fly up to the crowd and grab it.
12:30pm-1:30pm
It’s time for lunch after a morning of sightseeing on the islands. Take the speedboat to Meifeng Island to sample the local cuisine in a restaurant called Song Feng Ge.
The restaurant is always crowded with diners. The signature dish served here is locally produced chicken. The free-range chickens in Thousand Islands Lake feed on natural fodder, which makes the meat more tender and tastier than other chicken.
A special dish offered here is fern stirred with dried bean curd. Thousand Islands Lake is rich in ferns. Natives pick off the young stems of ferns as an edible vegetable.
Another uncommon dish is lichen fried with tofu. The lichen, a composite organism made up of fungus usually growing symbiotically with algae, is believed to enhance immunity and lower blood pressure.
Dishes here usually include soybeans in one form or another. Making tofu is a traditional craft for most Thousand Islands Lake rural folks.
The tofu in a clay pot is a must-have at feasts among locals, and it usually is braised with preserved meat. It is, of course, served at Song Feng Ge.2pm-3:30pm
Having dined to satisfaction, let’s climb the hill on Meifeng Island. Mei means plum blossom in Chinese. It was named so because it is shaped like a plum blossom with five other tiny islands surrounding it. Years ago, the local government planted plum trees on the island. In early spring, it becomes a favorite place to view plum blossoms.
You can take the cable car, which costs 20 yuan (US$3.3) per person, to the hilltop, or hike. The viewing platform on Meifeng is considered the best spot for a panoramic view of Thousand Islands Lake — it’s possible to see more than 300 islands.
The fastest way to go back down is the grass slide. The 100-meter-long slide is at a 30 degree angle and covered with thick plastic grass. People sit in a sled and zip to the bottom. It costs 15 yuan per person.
4pm-5pm
When Thousand Islands Lake began to develop its tourism industry in the 1980s, they picked what is now named Monkey Island as a breeding center for macaques under the supervision of the China Academy of Social Sciences. The macaques were bred successfully by combining free-range with artificial feeding.
Thereafter, more and more monkey varieties were taken to the island, including rhesus, guenon, potto and machin. In 1991, it opened to tourists. People could go ashore to feed and take pictures with monkeys.
6pm-7pm
Fish from Thousand Islands Lake is considered tastier and more tender because of the lake’s favorable and unpolluted environment. Eating fish from the lake is considered a treat.
Yuwei Guan is one of the oldest restaurants of Thousand Islands Lake. It opened in 1980s when the government started to encourage tourism at the lake. It remains a favorite and is usually busy.
The signature dish is Thousand Islands Lake fish head soup. The fish head is taken from a large bighead carp. Salt is the only seasoning used in cooking the soup. After hours of braising, the soup turns white and gives off a mellow smell.
The tail and fins of the bighead carp are turned into another dish. They are fried in oil and prepared with soy sauce, then topped with pickled vegetables.
The fish ball soup is also a favorite at the restaurant. The made-from-scratch fish balls are made of the meat of the chub, without egg white or starch. They taste mild and are nutrient dense.
Another specialty is swim bladder stewed in soy sauce. Chefs use every organ of the fish, and the swim bladder is abundant in collagen, which is believed to have anti-aging properties. The swim bladder is al dente and smooth, without a fishy smell.
Thousand Islands Lake shrimps also are popular with diners. The wild shrimps are small. In order to keep the shrimps palatable and tender, chef cooks them simply, boiled in water with garlic and ginger, adding only a pinch of salt.
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