Preface

In the misty and rainy Zhejiang, without expecting any destination or surprise, a weekend encounter is destined to happen here. I bought a ticket to Deqing in the morning. The two-hour journey from Shanghai to Deqing appeared particularly brief amidst the sound of speeding trains, as if I had already arrived at the station in the blink of an eye.

When I went out, I met a driver and got on the bus. I asked the driver if there were any interesting attractions nearby? Just take me there directly. The driver smiled in front of him, didn't the young man know where to go when he went on a trip? I said, I just came out to relax and didn't have much planning. The master said there is a Xiazhu Lake Wetland Park two or three kilometers away from here, why not go there. I promised, and this is the beginning of my story with Xiazhu Lake.

About Xiazhu Lake

Xiazhu Lake National Wetland Park is located in the southeast of Deqing County, Zhejiang Province, with an area of approximately 36.08 square kilometers, a water area of 3.4 square kilometers, and a central lake of 1.26 square kilometers. It is a national AAAA level tourist attraction. In 2011, it was awarded the title of "Most Beautiful Wetland in China" in the "Search for the Most Beautiful Wetland in China" selection activity jointly initiated by People's Daily, China Economic Weekly, and Wetland International China Office.

Xiazhu Lake is a typical natural lake wetland with diverse landscapes, and is also one of the most intact natural wetlands in its original state. The park is crisscrossed by bays and streams, with clear lake water rippling with patches of reed marshes. Wild birds play in the lake, and the dense reed marshes have become natural shelters for animals and plants, forming a large wetland ecosystem. It is hard to believe that there are over 800 species of flora and fauna living among the crisscrossing bays of over 600 islands. Among them, the precious national protected animal Crested Ibis lives in large numbers here, and there is also a pair of giant pandas.

The three most important viewing islands in Xiazhu Lake are Zhulou Island, Bird Island (Crested Ibis Island), and Le Island. Usually, take a cruise ship to enter and play in sequence, entering from Zhulou Island and exiting from Le Island.

【 Zhulou Island: Overlooking Xiazhu Lake, enjoy three courses of tea 】

Entering the scenic area from the tourist center of Xiazhu Lake is a boat pier, as it is difficult to assume a bridge between some islands in Xiazhu Lake. Therefore, if we want to go to the island, we must take a boat. From the dock, you can feel the fragrance of the wetland rushing towards you. The swaying reeds in the distance and the rippling blue waves in the vicinity all convey the message of nature.

After about 20 minutes of sailing, we arrived at the first small island - Zhulou Island. As soon as you come to the island, you can see a tall tower, which is the best scenic spot overlooking the entire Xiazhu Lake. Climbing to the top of the tower, you can see the panoramic view of the entire Xiazhu Lake. In autumn, Xiazhu Lake is a different kind of beautiful scenery. It has shed its green coat, and yellow has become the main melody of the reed marshes. Occasionally, a few birds skim over the lake surface, how beautiful it is!

Next, you will see a reed maze formation, with three wooden bridges in different directions dividing into three roads, separated by dense reed marshes in the middle. But you don't have to worry about getting lost, because every road leads to Rome, and every road can be traversed.

In the middle of the Lu Hai Maze is a leisure tea room, where you must stop for a while. You can skip anything else here, but be sure to try the local specialty of "Three Course Tea". In the eyes of the locals, tea represents respect, and through the practice of tea, it cultivates people's indifference, love, humility, goodness, beauty, and resilience. The "three courses of tea" are the attractions of this tea ceremony.

"Three cups of tea", as the name suggests, refers to three cups of tea. The first cup of tea is served with sweet tea, which is fragrant, sweet, warm to the stomach, very refreshing, and leaves a lasting aftertaste. The raw material used for sweet tea is glutinous rice dumplings, which are brewed with hot water and mixed with a little white sugar. They are then sprinkled with some rose petals as embellishments, giving them a fresh and tender appearance. Of course, the taste is also as sweet as a girl's.

The second type of tea is salty tea, also known as roasted bean tea, which is the most distinctive "wind proof tea" in Xiazhu Lake. The production process of this tea is also very simple. You only need to brew the salted edamame with tea water. To adjust the taste, add ingredients such as tangerine peel and goji berries and soak them together. The first brew doesn't have much flavor, only after repeated brewing can the taste of the salted roasted beans be truly stimulated. This is the essence of salted tea, and its unique flavor can be felt.

The third course is clear tea. The tea used here is local green tea, produced from the Yunwu tea grown on the local Tashan Mountain. After one sweet and one salty, drinking a cup of clear tea to relieve greasiness, refreshing and fragrant.

There is a saying: one bowl is full of sweetness, two bowls are refreshing, and three bowls are a way to promote family life. Therefore, these three teas are a wedding culture in Deqing. When the son-in-law visits the house for the first time, his mother-in-law will prepare these three teas for him to drink one by one. If more materials are added inside, it indicates that the mother-in-law is more satisfied with her son-in-law and everyone is happy.

After tasting three courses of tea, we continued to walk forward. Here you will encounter some wooden piers and a lotus pond. Although there are no lotus flowers now, the lotus leaves are still green, which is very spectacular.

[Crested Ibis Island: Birds and Beasts in Groups, Wetland Ecology]

To travel from Zhulou Island to Crested Ibis Island, you need to take a cruise ship to another pier.

From the name of Crested Ibis Island, one can tell that it is mainly the habitat of the national first-class protected animal Crested Ibis, which is a world-class endangered bird. The crested ibis, like the giant panda in China, is known as one of the four national treasures of China. This is an excellent place to observe the Crested Ibis, which is revered as a sacred bird by Japan due to its elegant body shape, graceful flying posture, and vermilion fur.

The first thing you will see when entering Crested Ibis Island is a museum. Inside, there are a series of specimens of animals, plants, and insects that inhabit Xiazhu Lake, ranging from various birds to flowers, birds, fish, insects, and even pythons, all of which can be found in the exhibition hall. This place can definitely be called a paradise for animal and plant enthusiasts, because some specimens are really seen for the first time, and even their names cannot be called. It's amazing!

From the museum, you can see the habitat of the Crested Ibis. The Crested Ibis inside are either in groups of three or five, or have independent branches. It is really a very beautiful species! However, due to environmental degradation and other reasons, the number of wild crested ibises has sharply decreased, which may lead to the disappearance of this magical species in the world.

Therefore, a conservation area for Crested Ibis has been established on the wetland of Xiazhu Lake, which is the most suitable habitat for Crested Ibis. Here, Crested Ibis can rapidly reproduce and thrive, and now the population of Crested Ibis in Xiazhu Lake has reached over 300. At the same time, there are also places for wild training of Crested Ibis, allowing some of them to adapt to their survival conditions in the wild and be released back into the wild, further expanding the number of wild Crested Ibis.

Protecting biodiversity has become a growing call from more and more people. Here, we can see the magical species of Crested Ibis, which also benefits from our protection of diversity. We hope that this wetland can become a habitat paradise for Crested Ibis.

[Le Dao: Fishing with nets, opening clams for pearls]

After visiting Crested Ibis Island, you can follow the signs to reach Le Island. Le Island is the largest of the three islands and also the island with the most diverse gaming experience. The name Le Dao also comes from this, where tourists can experience various entertainment projects and enjoy the pleasure of playing. Here, we offer an ecological wetland tourism experience that combines leisure and entertainment, ecotourism, and education with entertainment. The distribution areas of the island's business models include: Qicao Kingdom, Leisure Station, Four Seasons Flower Sea, Crazy Animal City, Fengming Evening Reed, and more. You can fully experience wetland culture here.

The biggest highlight on Le Island is "fishing with the net", an ancient fishing method that is rare. This effective, efficient, and fast fishing method is well preserved here, allowing people in the city to have a fresh look. A few bamboo poles and a huge fishing net make up a complete set of fishing tools. By utilizing the principle that fish move ashore when the water rises, some feed is sprinkled on the fishing net, and then the net is placed underwater for a few minutes before being pulled up, and there will always be a harvest.

There is a 35 * 35 meter super large fishing net on Le Island, which can be called the largest fishing net in Jiangnan! It's not an easy task to pull up this net. A few sturdy guys put in a lot of effort to pull it up. Because it's not the time of rising water, there aren't so many fish pulled up, but there are still some lively big and small fish in the net, which look very delicious.

Then you need to use a long pole to hold the fishing net and catch the fish ashore. Although this simple way is more convenient, it is really a physical task. The whole process has come to an end, and I am already sweating profusely. However, looking at the plump fish I have caught, I am still very happy.

Next, we arrived at a jewelry store on the shore to experience the "opening clams and picking pearls" that can only be experienced in Jiangnan. A clam is a very common aquatic organism in ponds in Jiangnan, but it is such an unattractive creature that silently nurtures one brilliant life pearl after another in its belly. This magical treasure nurtured by nature is the purest gift bestowed upon us by heaven.

You can open a clam here for 200 yuan, but I don't know the condition of the pearls inside and what kind of gifts there will be. This uncertainty can indeed bring surprises. When we went, we happened to encounter a tourist opening a clam. As soon as we opened it, it was filled with pearls. Looking at his smile, we were very satisfied.

We also took advantage of this luck to open a clam, and there were really many pearls inside. The master who opens clams will tell us what the pearl is most suitable for when he takes it out. Some are suitable for making bracelets, some are suitable for making earrings, some are suitable for making necklaces, and some pearls with strange shapes or poor quality can also be ground into pearl powder. It's really not a waste of a single pearl.

Bamboo raft rafting, enjoying the sunset together

When leaving the scenic area, you also need to take a cruise ship, but there are multiple options available at this time. One is to take a free large ferry, and the other is to choose bamboo rafting. In order to have a different experience, I still chose bamboo rafting.

You can see bamboo rafts at the dock of Le Island, which are now priced at 30 yuan per person, very cheap. The bamboo raft flowed down the water and swayed along the reeds towards the exit. Autumn is refreshing, with a cool breeze brushing against my face. I ride on a bamboo raft and drift on the blue waves and clear water, watching the swaying reeds on both sides. Enjoy the beautiful scenery of Xiazhu Lake along the way. At that time, the sun was setting in the west, and the sunlight shone through the clouds towards the distant mountains, which was particularly beautiful.

Wild ducks and birds occasionally frolic in the water, and the nearby cruise ship also rides on the waves. The evening breeze brushes against the face, and for a moment, it seems that everything in this sky is incredibly quiet. Only the sound of water lingers in my ears. This rare tranquility truly cleanses my restless soul.

[Farmhouse Cuisine by Xiazhu Lake]

Coming to Xiazhu Lake for tourism, such a beautiful ecological environment will naturally give rise to people's yearning for rural cuisine. Many people come here hoping to have a bite of authentic farmhouse cuisine and taste the delicious fish head soup of Zhuhu Lake. This time, during lunchtime, they searched around and didn't expect to find it.

About one kilometer away from the center of Xiazhu Lake Scenic Area, there is a place called Hudu Hotel. The appearance here is very inconspicuous. A restaurant renovated with a villa, the decoration is not luxurious, and the interior settings are only average. But the boss inside is an authentic Xiazhu Lakers, who is skilled at cooking.

Coming here, I naturally want to have a taste, and it's really rare to be able to eat green and natural organic vegetables.

In addition, the specialty dishes of Xiazhu Lake are also readily available here. The water chestnuts and lotus root slices I just picked are very delicious.

Of course, you can't miss the fish head soup from Xiazhu Lake. The milky white soup is very tempting, and it's not too much to drink three bowls at once.

TIPS

1. Regarding tickets:

Adult ticket: 80 yuan/person;

Discount ticket: 40 yuan/person (elderly, children)

Children under 1.2 meters in height are free of charge

2. Opening hours:

08:00——16:00

3. Recommended travel routes:

Starting from the dock -- Fishermen tasting fresh food -- Green Bamboo Forest Garden -- Fengzhu Flower Waves -- Beautiful peaks -- Bird watching platform -- Shuidang Flower Field -- Fangfeng Divine Tea -- Bamboo Lounge Leisure -- Ludang Exploring the secluded scenery -- Mountain insect without feet on the Beast Island -- Zhujiagang -- Return to the dock (about 4-5 hours)

4. Address:

Sanduji Town, Sanhe Township, Deqing County, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province (only about 10 minutes by car from Deqing High Speed Railway Station)