We all know that in winter every year, migratory birds such as seagulls from Siberia choose to fly south in order to avoid the cold climate of Sibo, passing through Russia and our northeastern region. Some choose to stay in the Jiaodong Peninsula, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and other places, and some fly to my country's Taiwan Island, Hainan Island, and even Southeast Asia and other islands. Most of the migratory birds choose to live in coastal areas. But there is one exception. Dianchi Lake, located in Kunming, the "Spring City" in the hinterland of southwest China. Although it is far away from the ocean, more than 40,000 to 50,000 red-billed seagulls come here for the winter every winter.

It's called a pond, not a pond. This is the largest lake in Yunnan

After nearly 4 hours of flight, Beijing has entered the cold and silent early winter in late November, but Kunming is still a scenery with flowers blooming everywhere and warm as spring, and it really lives up to the reputation of the "Spring City". Dianchi Lake is located 6 kilometers southwest of Kunming City, also known as Kunming Lake (Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace in Beijing is quite notorious, haha!). Speaking of Dianchi Lake, in the eyes of many travel enthusiasts, it is not as famous as the other major lakes in Yunnan, Erhai, Lashihai, and Lugu Lake. However, you may not know that Dianchi Lake is the largest freshwater lake in Yunnan and even the entire Southwest. Lake, and also the sixth largest freshwater lake in China, with an altitude of 1886 meters and an area of more than 300 square kilometers. It is known as the "Pearl of the Plateau".

Many people may be surprised. Since it is the largest lake in Yunnan, why did it choose such a stingy name as "Dianchi Lake"? In fact, Dianchi Lake was named Nanze of Yunnan in ancient times. Historical records show that during the Jin and Northern Wei Dynasties, it was called Dianchi Lake because "the downstream flow was shallow and narrow, like flowing backwards." This is inferred in a geographical sense. Some scholars have also textual research based on ethnic appellations. In ancient Yunnan, there was a largest tribal name called "Dian", which gave rise to the name of Dianchi Lake. Others think this is a transliteration,"Dian is, Dian is." The word "dian" in Yi language means Dabazi.

Dianchi Lake is a typical earthquake fault subsidence lake. It has been developed for about 70 million years. It is surrounded by mountains. There are Jinma Mountain in the east, Biji Mountain in the west, Sheshan Mountain in the north, and Heshan Mountain in the south, forming the natural barrier of Kunming Bazi. In particular, Xishan Mountain (also known as Biji Mountain), located on the west bank of Dianchi Lake, was listed as the first of the "Eight Scenes in Southern Yunnan" in the Yuan Dynasty; it ranked first among the "Four Famous Mountains in Yunnan" in the Ming Dynasty; it was praised as the "Jade Chicken Autumn Scenes" in the "Six Scenes of Dianyang"; in the "Eight Scenes of Kunming" in the Qing Dynasty, the "Night Moon of Dianchi Lake" is the Night Moon of the West Mountain of Dianchi Lake; and in contemporary times, it is the "Sleeping Beauty Mountain, with the Dragon Gate Flying" among the" Sixteen Scenes of Kunming". There is also a local folk legend about Dianchi Lake and Xishan Mountain: In ancient times, a princess couldn't bear the loneliness in the palace and secretly left the palace to marry a young man. Later, the king broke up the happy marriage and used a trick to kill the young man. The princess was heartbroken and cried non-stop. Her tears flowed into Dianchi Lake, and she also fell on her back and turned into a Western Mountain.

Not only the "Pearl of the Plateau", but also a paradise for migratory birds

Dianchi Lake is not only the "pearl of the plateau", but also a paradise for migratory birds. Every winter, tens of thousands of red-billed seagulls from Siberia escape the cold climate and fly to Dianchi Lake for the winter. As they have agreed, they all fly to Kunming in November every year and start returning to Siberia in March of the following year. Every winter, tens of thousands of red-billed gulls on the lake become a major sight in Dianchi Lake and a beautiful business card of Kunming, the spring city.

Seagulls are migratory birds and one of the most common seabirds, mainly distributed in Europe, Asia to Alaska and western North America. During winter migration, it often flies to the southeastern coast of my country, and is also seen in some inland lakes and rivers. The origin of Kunming and seagulls began in the mid-1980s. In the winter of 1985, the first seagull from Siberia migrated to Spring City with the climate. From then on, an agreement was made with Kunming. Every winter, swarms of seagulls fly thousands of miles from distant Siberia to Kunming, lingering in Dianchi Lake, in Cuihu Lake... in every river and lake pond in Kunming.

The Haigen Dam in Dianchi Lake is one of the best places to watch seagulls in Kunming. At the Haigeng Dam this season, the voices are roaring, and thousands of seagulls are flying in the sky, which has the potential to block out the sky and the sun. It is very spectacular. The weaving of tourists contrasts with groups of flying elves. They rise and fall, fly and stop, as if they have spirituality. They play and fight with the people here, forage and roost. The picture of harmonious coexistence between humans and creatures will definitely bring shock to your soul. The companions in the same journey were all deeply attracted by the scene in front of them. They either raised their bread to feed these elves, or took out their mobile phones to take precious commemorative photos.

Dry goods information

1. If you want to come to Dianchi Lake to see seagulls, you can come from November to March every year. Seagulls will fly to spend the winter at this season of the year.

2. Several recommended places to see seagulls in Kunming: Haigeng Dam, Haigeng Park, Cuihu Park, and Daguan Park. Among them, Haigeng Dam and Haigeng Park have the largest number of people.

3. If you feed seagulls, you can bring your own bread, which is sold at bird watching points. In addition, if you want to take photos with seagulls, you must never catch seagulls. Some time ago, some tourists online went to catch seagulls in order to take photos, and were later fined 2,000 yuan.