Baofeng Lake is a natural attraction and recommended for a visit if you like taking photos. The scenic area was firstly developed by chance: It was a peaceful gorge many years ago and the local people built a reservoir (72 meters tall) within the rocks, only with the purpose of storing water for irrigation. People never expected that after the project, a beautiful scenery was created and now has become the famed Baofeng Lake. The well-known TV series 'a Journey to the West' (first version) was once shoot here.
Baofeng Lake is an artificial lake created by blocking gorge and building dam. The shape of the lake is a square, with a length of 2.5 kilometers and a width ranged from 200 to 1000 meters. The average depth of the water is 72 meters. The water of the Baofeng Lake is absolutely clean and without pollutions as it is an alpine lake. Looking down at the lake from the hills, the lake is like a Jade surrounded in the mountains. Sailing to the centre island on the green lake, boarding on the lakeshore for a visit to the stockade village of the Eagle’s nest (Yingwo Zhai) becomes a agreeable experience for tourists.
Baofeng lake also attracts the natural animals. Every October of the Lunar calendar, a mass of Yuanyang bird (mandarin duck) will fly to the lake from the north to avoid the chilly winter. The birds would like to choose here as their habitat as the water in the lake is of high quality and the water temperature is warm; the lake will not freeze in the winter. The three islands in the lake center are called the island for the mandarin ducks.
