千岛湖 (Thousand Islands Lake)

千岛湖 is a gigantic man make lake created when they buid the hydro power station 新安江水电站 in 1959. The river was damed up and the lake has an area of 574sqkm.. almost the size of singapore. As the water level rises, the peaks of the hills became many of the islands on the lake, thus its name 千岛湖 (Thousand Islands Lake). Since then, it had been developed as a tourist area and its natural habitat had been destinated as a natural reserve.

3 main produce from the area. 1. mineral water, as this is a major brand there.. there are actually fakes selling in the city and elsewhere. The packaging looks exactly the same but the taste is totally different. So beware....



2. Pearls. Fresh water oyster farming is very active in this region. This is how an oyster farm looks like. Picture was taken from another part of china.


The oysters are string up and laid into the water and each location is indicated by a float. OK .. i know is not very clear but this was taken on train during sunset ...


Impurities are introduced to the oysters so that pearls can be harvest.

3. Fish farming is also a very active industry.




From Hangzhou, it takes about 2 hours by bus to reach there. A few islands are developed into tourist attractions. They are 锁岛 (Lock Island), 鸟岛 (Bird Island), and a few others which i forgot liao. haha.. Other than the scenery ... not much fun in the islands la...



This is on the lock island... u can purchase the metal locks and carve your wish and lock it there. i wish for........