Qingming Travel Notes | Walking to Xiazhu Lake

Is it possible to walk on Xiazhu Lake?

Yes. Recently, Xiazhu Lake has built an upper water trail that goes around the lake. Enter and exit from the entrance of the scenic spot and walk through the main Dundun Island.

On April 5, 2022, during the Qingming Festival, I went for a walk with my friends to see what was going on.

When I arrived at the visitor center at 9 o'clock, there were few tourists. There was only a group of seven or eight local tourists, and their accents sounded like Easterners.

In the distance, the war between Russia and Ukraine is inextricable; nearby, the Shanghai metropolis is trapped by the new coronavirus epidemic; a few days ago, imported infections also appeared in Deqing. Fortunately, there is no danger, and we can still enjoy an "involution" "style" tour.

We wore masks and came to the lobby, scanned the code to verify the green code and itinerary code, and received zero-yuan tickets to the scenic spot at the window with our ID cards. After checking the ticket, enter the cruise terminal.

There are several cruise ships moored at the pier. We walked through the pier and there was a bridge across the river next to it. After crossing the bridge, you officially enter the lake area.

The weather was gloomy, like a layer of twilight blocking the spring scenery of red flowers and green willows. But if you look carefully at the grass leaves bursting with new buds and the branches holding flower buds, you can still feel the strong vitality and vigorous expressive spirit of spring.

The walking path is paved with original color wood plastic, with steel structures on both sides. Rooted in the lake water, stable and flat.

Just like the cruise route, not far away is the main lake area. The vast color of the lake seems to tell tourists that Xiazhu Lake is a lake-type wetland.

It can be seen that the walking trails are professionally designed. Not far away, there will be a larger water viewing platform, with the shore on the right and the lake area on the left. We took a group photo here.

I saw a sign: Jianjia Island.

"Jianjia is green, white dew is frost..." The word "Jianjia" comes from "The Book of Songs", which is very elegant and sunny. The island is overgrown with reeds, and when we entered, we saw workers planting reed roots. There is nothing wrong with naming it after "Jianjia". There used to be a bamboo building on the island. On March 24, 2019, we held a reading party in the bamboo building. Three years later, the bamboo building has been upgraded to a bungalow. The words "Mother-in-law's Tea House" on the light box are eye-catching and exaggerated, and can be seen from miles away. It's okay to name it after "mother-in-law". However, the "mother-in-law" on "Jianjia Island" has a sense of disobedience and even joy. After all, the "mother-in-law" is secular and lowly.

(On March 24, 2019, the reading club held a reading event at Xiazhu Lake)

There were few tourists. We sat at the Eight Immortals Table in the tea house and drank our own tea and snacks, but the staff paid no attention to us.

Zhulou still promotes the "Three Courses of Tea", namely wok glutinous rice soup called sweet tea, red bean tea as salty tea and green tea as clear tea. In fact, the most distinctive thing is the edible and drinkable Deqing salty tea with "one cup bitter, two cups tonic, and three cups of bag belly".

Keep going.

The second island is Crested Ibis Island. Many years ago, crested ibises were introduced to Xiazhu Lake and a wetland herbarium was built. What impressed me most today was the many soaring egrets and gray herons, and the loud cries of cranes. It is indeed a unique scene.

February Orchid is on the third island, now called "Le Island". Looking from a distance, a field of purple flowers and reflections seemed to dye the lake purple. A friend said that he came to Xiazhu Lake for this February orchid. I took a closer look, and what appeared was "Zhuge Cai". The February Orchid has become Zhuge Cai in the secular world, and its fairy spirit and charm are naturally gone. It can be seen that naming has a relatively large impact on tourists’ perceptual cognition and image thinking.

The island has undulating wilderness, with large purple bushes dotted with cauliflower yellow that has not yet faded, and tall trees standing tall. It has a strange and beautiful momentum, a bit like the lavender grassland in Provence, France.

There is a glass plank road leading out from Ledao Street. The sparkling lake water is rippling under your feet, and walking in it gives you a different feeling. The portraits and scenery photographed have reflections, as if they were in the water.

It's not far from the exit, but you still need to cross a unique bridge. In October 2019, the Swimming Association and the running group organized a swimming and running relay race, which was across this unique bridge and entered the lake area. Today, workers are renovating the bridge deck.

Looking at the time, we have walked for three hours, 14,000 steps, and about 8 kilometers.

A friend asked me how I felt?

I said that viewing the scenery and flowers is pleasing to the eye, and walking on the lake is a special kind of enjoyment. But after careful reflection, I can still feel two shortcomings: First, as mentioned above, the names of the landscapes in Xiazhuhu Scenic Area, such as Jianjia Island, Taiwen Island, Zhini Island, Xianshi Island, and Le Island, are too flat, which makes people feel that they can only see the trees but not the forest. If the styles are consistent, Xiazhuhu will be more culturally colorful. Then there is Xiazhu Lake for defense As the core area of wind culture, Deqing has organized two international wind-proof culture seminars and has become famous, although this is only reflected in the small town of Erdu. Now that the Xiazhuhu Lake Trail is open, visitors have more time to stroll and enjoy the scenery. Some spots can be arranged for display, instead of simply saying "Once upon a time, there were three families named Xia, Zhu, and Hu living in Xiazhuhu Lake"...