Mogan Lake in Deqing
2 min readMogan Lake lies at the southern foot of Mogan Mountain, also known as the North Lake to match with the three most famous lakes in Zhejiang Province, namly the West Lake of Hangzhou, the East Lake of Shaoxing and the South Lake of Jiaxing. It is a large artificial lake developed fromDuihekou Reservoir. It is said that the place was often hit by heavy floods and severe draughts before. In the early 1960s, the local government decided to build a reservoir there. The construction started from 1960, and was finished in 1964. It measures 3.7 square kilometers when the water is at its normal level about 4.5 meters, which is smaller than the West Lake. But its surface of the water can be expanded to 6 square kilometers when the water level reaches to the highest,a bit larger than the West Lake. The reservoir has a grand dam 293 meters long, and 58 meters high. The maximum capacity of holding water amounts to 1.16 hundred million cubic content. The giant project of multi-function plays the important roles in flood storage, and other fields such as irrigation, power generation, drinking-water source as well as aquaculture.
When tourists mount up on the dam,a lake of clear water comes into view. The verdant mountains, white clouds and the blue sky are mirrored in the lake, which seems to be another land in the lake. There is an islet in the middle of the lake which appears or disappears with the lake water up and down in different seasons. Because the islet is occupied by some swans in winter every year, it is also called “Swan Islet”. Going to the islet, the more beautiful landscape feasts one’s eyes. On the northen shore of the lake,a hill grown densely with pines and bamboo extends into the lake like a peninsula.
The hill has got the name of “Beauty Peak”and the graceful beauty seems to be embraced by the ripples of the lake. On the southern shore of the lake, bamboo and woods are luxuriant and fruit trees grow in lines. In spring, bright mountain flowers are in full bloom matching beauty each other. With the arrival of autumn season, ripe peaches, sweet plums, Chinese chestnuts, bayberries (arbutus) in close clusters hanging heavy on fruit trees givetourists the scenery of exceptional charm. In the deep wood, where is the habitat for some wild creatures to perch and dwell, many kinds of wild birds and animals such as cuckoos, thrushes, pheasants, mynas, Chinese bulbuls, porcupines, woodpeckers, squirrels, weasels, owls, wild boars, hares and others can be easily found.
The peaceful lake and the hills clad in verdure set each other off and form a delightful scene. It is an ideal place for sightseeing, especially for boating and fishing.
