The Peaceful and Elegant Songhua Lake

Located in southeastern Jilin City, Jinlin Province, only 10km away from downtown of Jilin, Songhua Lake has large bodies of water like rows of dragons pulling downstream, each striving to take the lead. The shape of the lake is long and narrow with the length of 200 kilometers and 10 kilometers wide at its widest point. With the largest volume of water 10.8 billion cubic meters, the Songhua Lake with favorable geographical location has further displayed its advantages.



Its clear-cut four seasons of weather conditions and the bright and beautiful landscape of lakes and hills have made it become a favorite haunt to tourists from both home and abroad. The scenery of Songhua Lake has great charm, which reminds one the land of Guilin. It's famous for its forest-clad mountains and limpid streams, which enjoyed a good reputation as the bright pearl in the northern country.



It is a national scenic spot and historical site and is featured by its water, mountain and forest. The water surface stretching for hundreds of miles is the crystal clear lake, slightly wrinkled in the winds and away to the far off mountains. The creamy-white sails rolling on a vast expanse of misty and rolling waters and curving above the sparkling waves.



Surrounded by the surrounding mountains, most of the time the surface of the lake is calm and smooth while the shadows of the hills and clouds, the sunlight and the glinting water melt into one another. The lake encompassed by mountains and peaks rising one upon another could complete a panorama most agreeable to the romantic temperament.



The coverage of the watershed forest, water and soil conservation makes up over 70 percent, which constitute its unique and beautiful scenery. In early spring, the revivification of nature is one period hailed with unusual delight. In the height of summer, a dense growth of evergreen trees and wild flowers has formed a "retreat away from the world." In the golden autumn, you will feast your eye on a succession of bewitchingly charming scenes of nature like the red leaves all over the mountain and forests that glow with autumn tints. In the depth of winter, the trees and flowers along the lakeside were covered with snow as if they were made of jade. It transformed in a moment into a snow-white and crystal clear world!



Besides the extending mountain ranges and the splendid beauty of nature, the lake also possesses some other scenic spots that command admiration. There're numerous islets in many shapes and sizes nearby the lake, which framed like the sharp bright pearl in its setting of green barriers, also like lotus flower out from water appearing on the clear water pool.



The shadow of many islets, and of many overhanging trees, was upon the clear and smooth lake in quiet and tasteful surroundings by that time. Among which the most famous and the largest islet lying in the lake is Five Tigers Island. As the story goes, the lake has a shape of five tigers playing in the water; it has got its present name of Five Tigers Island.