Tai Lake
Encyclopedia
Lake Tai, or Tai Lake or Lake Taihu, is a large lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 in the Yangtze Delta plain, on the border of the Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...

 and Zhejiang
Zhejiang
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...

 provinces Eastern China
East China
East China is a geographical and a loosely-defined cultural region that covers the eastern coastal area of China.Although an intangible and loosely defined concept, for administrative and governmental purposes, the region is defined by the government of the People's Republic of China to include...

. The waters of the lake belong to the former in its entirety with part of its southern shore forming the boundary between the two provinces. With an area of 2,250 km² and an average depth of 2 metres, it is the third largest freshwater lake in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, after Poyang and Dongting Lake
Dongting Lake
Dongting Lake, or Lake Dongting is a large, shallow lake in northeastern Hunan province, China. It is a flood basin of the Yangtze River . Hence the lake's size depends on the season...

s. The lake houses about 90 islands, ranging in size from a few square meters to several square miles.

Lake Tai is linked to the renowned Grand Canal
Grand Canal of China
The Grand Canal in China, also known as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is the longest canal or artificial river in the world. Starting at Beijing, it passes through Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the city of Hangzhou...

. The lake is also the origin for a number of rivers, including Suzhou Creek
Suzhou Creek
Suzhou Creek is a river in China that passes through the Shanghai city centre. It is named after Suzhou, a city in neighbouring Jiangsu province which was the predominant city in this area prior to the rise of Shanghai as a metropolis.One of the principal outlets of Lake Tai, Suzhou Creek has a...

. In recent years, Lake Tai has been plagued by pollution as a result of rapid economic growth in the surrounding region.

Formation

Scientific studies suggest that Lake Tai's circular structure is the result of a meteor impact based on the discovery of shatter cones, shock metamorphosed
Shock metamorphism
Shock metamorphism or impact metamorphism describes the effects of shock-wave related deformation and heating during impact events. The formation of similar features during explosive volcanism is generally discounted due to the lack of metamorphic effects unequivocally associated with explosions...

 quartz, microtektites, and shock metamorphic unloading fractures. Recent science has dated the possible impact crater
Impact crater
In the broadest sense, the term impact crater can be applied to any depression, natural or manmade, resulting from the high velocity impact of a projectile with a larger body...

 to be greater than 70 million years old and possibly from the Late Devonian Period. Fossils indicate that Lake Tai was dry land until the ingression of the East China Sea
East China Sea
The East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1,249,000 km² or 750,000 square miles.-Geography:...

 during the Holocene epoch. The growing deltas of the Yangtze and Qiantang rivers eventually sealed off Lake Tai from the sea, and the influx of fresh water from rivers and rains turned Lake Tai into a freshwater lake.

Scenic locations

The lake is renowned for its unique limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 formations. These Chinese scholar's rocks
Chinese scholar's rocks
Chinese scholars' rocks or Gongshi , also known as scholar stones or viewing stones, are small shaped or naturally occurring rocks appreciated by Chinese scholars from the Song dynasty onwards, and quite frequently found in traditional Chinese gardens.The most highly regarded stones are lingbi...

 are often prized as a decorating material for the traditional Chinese garden, especially in areas such as Suzhou
Suzhou
Suzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part...

.

According to many guidebooks, Lake Tai is best seen from the scenic viewpoint in Xihui Park (錫惠公園) in the west of Wuxi
Wuxi
Wuxi is an old city in Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China. Split in half by Lake Tai, Wuxi borders Changzhou to the west and Suzhou to the east. The northern half looks across to Taizhou across the Yangtze River, while the southern half also borders the province of Zhejiang to the south...

 (無錫), from the top of Dragon Light Pagoda (龍光塔 Lóng Guāng Tǎ), from which both Wuxi and Lake Tai are visible. Another well-known panoramic view is from Longshan (Mt Long), where the famous ancient poet Su Shi
Su Shi
Su Shi , was a writer, poet, artist, calligrapher, pharmacologist, gastronome, and statesman of the Song Dynasty, and one of the major poets of the Song era. His courtesy name was Zizhan and his pseudonym was Dongpo Jushi , and he is often referred to as Su Dongpo...

 (1037–1101) once wrote a poem.

Three of the lake's islands are known as the Sanshan Islands
Sanshan Islands
The Sanshan Islands are a group of three islands on Tai Hu lake in Jiangsu, China. It was a noted bandit haunt with temples and tall Buddha statues, the Lingshan Buddha on the Ma Shan peninsula being 289 feet high. The area is one of the Chinese National Geological Parks.-References:...

 ('three hill islands'), one of the Chinese National Geological Parks. It was a notable haunt of bandits.

One of the best locations to view the lake is Xihui Park
Xihui Park
Xihui Park is a park located west of Wuxi, Jiangsu, China, overlooking the city and Lake Tai. It was established in 1958 and includes the Jichang Yuan Garden. At the park entrance is a path leading to the Dragon Light Pagoda on top of Xi Shan...

 in the west of Wuxi. By climbing the summit of Dragon Light Pagoda (Longguang Pagoda) inside the park, you will get a bird's eye view of the city and the lake. Mei Yuan is also located in Lake Tai.

Yuantouzhu
Yuantouzhu
Yuantouzhu is a peninsula which lies on the northwestern shore of Lake Tai, near Wuxi in China's Jiangsu province.Yuantouzhu, or "Turtle Head Isle" in English , is a popular scenic tourist region...

 (Turtle Head Isle) is another prominent region for tourists. It received this title because its outline resembles a turtle head. The region gained its fame in the early 20th century and it contains more than ten scenic sites for visit.

Business and industry

The lake is also known for its productive fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

 industry, and is often occupied by fleets of small private fishing boats. Since the late 1970s, harvesting seafood products such as fish and crabs has been invaluable to people living along the lake and has contributed significantly to the economy of the surrounding area.

The Lake is home a ceramic production industry that is very extensive. Also the lake is home to the Ishing pottery factory which makes tea pots of world renown.

Ferris wheel

Completed in 2008, Star of Lake Tai is a 115 metres (377.3 ft) tall giant Ferris wheel. It takes 18 minutes to complete one revolution. Passengers can enjoy the scenery of Lake Tai and the city center. At night, lighting effects are switched on around the wheel.

Pollution


In May 2007, the lake was overtaken by a major algae
Algae
Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...

 bloom and by major pollution with cyanobacteria. The Chinese government called the lake a major natural disaster
Natural disaster
A natural disaster is the effect of a natural hazard . It leads to financial, environmental or human losses...

 despite the anthropogenic origin of this environmental catastrophe. With the average price of bottled water rising to six times the normal rate, the government banned all regional water providers from implementing price hikes. The lake provides water to 30 million residents, including about one million in Wuxi. By October 2007 it was reported that the Chinese government had shut down or given notice to over 1,300 factories around the lake. However, Wu Lihong
Wu Lihong
Wu Lihong is an environmental activist of the People's Republic of China. In August 2007, Wu was sentenced to prison by a local court in retribution for a 10 year crusade against pollution in Lake Tai...

, one of the leading environmentalists who had been publicizing the pollution of the lake, was sentenced to three years in prison for alleged extortion of one of the polluters, but, undeterred, alleged in 2010 that not a single factory was closed. Jiangsu province planned to clean up the lake, and chaired by Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao is the sixth and current Premier and Party secretary of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, serving as China's head of government and leading its cabinet. In his capacity as Premier, Wen is regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy...

 the State Council set a target to clean Lake Tai by 2012. However, in 2010 The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...

reported that a fresh pollution outbreak had occurred, and that Wu, released from prison in April, was claiming that the government was trying to suppress news of it, all the while switching to other supplies in place of lake water.
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