Tai Lake

Tai Lake (}; }; literally "Grand Lake") is a large lake in the Yangtze Delta plain, on the border of Jiangsu and Zhejiang province. With an area of 2,250 km² and an average depth of 2 metres, it is the third largest freshwater lake in China, after the Poyang and Dongting Lakes.

Tai Lake is linked to the famous Grand Canal. A number of rivers, including Suzhou Creek, originate here.

The surrounding region is one of China's largest grain-producing base. The lake takes its credit for a thriving fishing industry as well as the ornamental limestone rocks that are native to no other place. These Chinese scholar's rocks are unique as a decorating material for the traditional Chinese gardens in the area (such as Suzhou) .

About 90 islands, some as tiny as few feet long, some as large as several miles, are scattered within the boundary of the lake area. The presence of many fleets of fishing junk boats, in adding to its landscape, makes the lake an attractive place to visit.

The best place to see Tai Lake is from the Xihui Park (錫惠公園) in the west of Wuxi (無錫). From the top of Dragon Light Pagoda (龍光塔 Lóng Guāng Tǎ), there is a display of a panoramic view of Wuxi and Taihu. The park ended in Ming Dynasty styled Jichang Garden.

Tàihúshuǐ (太湖水, literally "Tai Lake Water") is a local beer that uses water from the lake as a liquor in brewing.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.