Chongming Mingzhu Lake Park

Duration: 1 day. Time: December. Per capita cost: 200 yuan. With whom: Couple. The author visited these places: Chongming Island, Chongming Mingzhu Lake Park, Mingzhu Lake, Xisha National Wetland Park. Posted on January 14, 2021, at 10:29. Mingzhu Lake was originally a tributary of the southern branch of the Yangtze River. It was artificially dammed and constructed in the 1970s. Mingzhu Lake is located in Lvhua Town in the western part of Chongming Island. It is currently the largest natural inland lake on the island and also the main area of the western water entertainment resort area and the western ecological agricultural tourism area planned to be developed by the Chongming government. Covering an area of about 6,500 mu, of which the water area is about 3,000 mu and the water capacity is about 5 million cubic meters. It is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction and a national-level ecological tourism demonstration base. Here, the lake water is clear, the environment is elegant, and the natural scenery is beautiful. According to detection, the atmospheric quality of the scenic area is at the national first level all year round, and the water quality is at the national second level. It is a new ecological concept tourist distribution center in the peripheral area of a metropolis that integrates tourism, rehabilitation and recuperation, leisure clubs, cultural exhibition halls, ecological agriculture, and participatory entertainment. It is an ideal tourist resort area that combines the characteristics of water, greenery, local customs and human feelings of Chongming. On December 5, 2020, I participated in a one-day tour of Chongming Mingzhu Lake. The adult ticket is 99 yuan per person. There are 16 tourists in one car. The one-way ride takes 2.5 hours. We arrived at the park entrance at 10:40. The tour guide said that this batch of tourists can have free Chinese food at the water restaurant. The meal starts at 11:30. After calculating, if we have a meal, there will be no time to tour around the lake. So we gave up. Chongming’s largest natural freshwater lake. We spent three hours walking, playing and enjoying the scenery, and making a circle around the lake. There are cycling facilities in the park, including tandem bicycles, vintage cars, and amphibious vehicles. But when we went there on a rest day, there were almost no people at all. There were only a few people riding bicycles sporadically. Occasionally coming to such a place to breathe fresh air is very nice. The slight cool breeze makes people feel refreshed and in a good mood. It’s quite comfortable and enjoyable to enjoy the fresh air in the forest. The park is very large. A circle around the lake is 8 kilometers. At present, the Xisha Wetland that is not open has few amusement projects. The scenery around the natural lake is picturesque, with groups of shade trees and blooming flowers, but there are fewer entertainment facilities. All the play items need to be charged separately! Many places are still under infrastructure construction. The ancient ship ruins are the first scenic line at the north entrance of Mingzhu Lake Park. We place such a ship here to show that the people of Chongming will not forget history and are grateful for the contributions that ships have made to the economic development of the island. It is also to carry forward the spirit of ships bravely pioneering through wind and waves. The Mingzhu Lake Waterfront Restaurant is located 100 meters from the main entrance of Mingzhu Lake Park. The restaurant has elegant decoration and unique style. There are 10 independent private rooms. The hall has 20 dining tables and can accommodate 300 people to dine at the same time. Various medium and small banquets can be held.
Indulge in an authentic farm-to-table dining experience with ingredients sourced from local home-style dishes and premium organic fish from Pearl Lake. The culinary expertise ensures a genuine feast of farm-fresh fish delicacies. Huaqiao Scenic Overlook: Constructed in 2009, Huaqiao spans 72 meters in length and 31 meters in width, featuring a 6-meter wide vehicular lane on both sides and a tiered pedestrian path in the center. From the Huaqiao, the ‘Three Ones’ landscape is fully visible: one embankment (the verdant island encircling dike), one lake (with its ever-changing lake light and water colors), and one river (Chongming Island’s encircling water channel). Intelligent Running Track: This is the longest and finest leisure intelligent running track in Shanghai, integrating leisure, intelligence, culture, and health. The intelligent leisure sports track covers a total of 8 kilometers, composed of an eco-friendly plastic track, colored asphalt path, floating bridges, and lakeside walkways, including 6500 meters of plastic track, 500 meters of lakeside walkway, 700 meters of colored asphalt, 300 meters of floating trestle bridge, and rest stations, mist devices, intelligent services, thematic displays, and sports art as multifunctional supporting projects on both sides of the track. Speedboat Rides: Experience the thrill of being a sea cavalry with exhilarating speed. (200 yuan per lap, accommodating up to 5 people), Pearl Lake speedboats are characterized by their small tonnage, high speed, and maneuverability, with two closed and two open-style boats available for visitors to fully enjoy the high-speed water journey and captivating scenery of Pearl Lake. Sightseeing Cruises: The most comfortable viewing seats for the most relaxing water journey. This is the most distinctive water tour project in Pearl Lake, with four painted barges组成, one of which is for meeting use (22 seats), equipped with audio and sound systems; the other three are for tourist sightseeing (30 yuan per person, starting with 10 people, up to 36 people). Amphibious Vehicles: Feel the dual excitement and passion of land and water. (30 yuan per person, children’s ticket 20 yuan per person, under 1.4 meters) Amphibious vehicles, with characteristics of both vehicles and boats, can travel on land and float on water. They can bring you the thrill of plunging into the water, splashing waves, experiencing the fun of water sports in Pearl Lake, capturing the panoramic view of water sports in Pearl Lake, and feeling the dreamy water and land passion experience in an instant. Flat Lake Crossing: Feel the width and depth of Pearl Lake as the main navigation channel of the Yangtze River’s south branch before reclamation in the 1970s (30 yuan per person per time) Flat Lake Crossing (ropeway) is an experience project that allows visitors to overlook the panoramic scenery of Pearl Lake while truly feeling the thrill of flying over Pearl Lake before the 1970s when it was the main navigation channel of the Yangtze River, and the depth of changes over a hundred years. It is also an excellent place to capture and photograph various birds.

Leisure Promenade: The park has constructed a 50-meter water-friendly corridor for visitors to relax and enjoy the lake views. Of course, you may also leisurely paddle a boat, drifting freely east or west in the lake, fully displaying a sense of freedom and leisure. After tiring from play, one can visit the lakeside leisure café for a few sips of coffee or enjoy a variety of delicacies at the restaurant. In early winter, the ginkgo trees by the lake change color into a vibrant spectrum, and the reeds on the west shore of the lake form a natural backdrop. The Pearl Lake Scenic Area boasts unique ecological resources and regional environment, with its natural lakes and dense forests serving as a sanctuary for birds and a stopover for migratory waterfowl traveling from south to north. From November to April each year, the scenic area welcomes a group of ‘mysterious visitors’. They are dressed in plain black coats but possess extraordinary fishing skills. They are the wild cormorants. Commonly known as fish eagles or water ducks, they are a second-class protected bird species. Their feathers are black with a green sheen, they have a small throat pouch under their chin, and a long beak with a hook at the tip, making them skilled fishers and excellent diving stars among birds. Now is a great time to observe cormorants. Visiting Pearl Lake Park allows you to see them, standing like ‘sentries’ on wooden stakes by the lake, forming a unique scenic line of the park. Birdwatching Area: To allow more visitors to observe the cormorants without disturbing them, the park has built a reed wall with small windows for easy photography and observation. Nowadays, there are fewer domesticated fish eagles on Chongming Island, and only at Pearl Lake can you capture the moment of wild fish eagles fishing. Fish Specimen Hall: Yangtze River fish display, featuring the largest black carp specimen in the country. The Fish Specimen Hall is located in the middle of the west bank of Pearl Lake, built by the lake, divided into water and land parts. The land part displays more than 20 main species of fish living in Pearl Lake, including the four major fish of the Yangtze River estuary (black carp, grass carp, silver carp, bighead carp), among which the most famous is a 1.62-meter-long, 150-pound black carp king. There are also rare species of fish in the Yangtze River, such as Chinese sturgeon, shad, and catfish. The water part mainly consists of an ornamental fish pond, where visitors can enjoy watching, feeding, and playing with fish. Children’s Playground: The children’s park is a great place for parent-child games, surrounded by green trees, sparkling lake views, and lush grass. Adults and children interact here, sharing the joy of childhood and preserving the innocence and warmth in a harmonious life. The children’s park is equipped with shops, camping, and picnic areas, making it a family-friendly place with food and fun.
Intelligent balancing scooters are smart transportation robots that allow drivers to control their direction by adjusting their body posture, providing a wonderful experience of moving as desired. This is especially appealing to those who enjoy chasing trends, savoring life, and experimenting with fashionable new products, as it caters to their desire for a unique mode of transportation. Within the Mingzhu Lake Ecological Service Area, there is a scenic spot called ‘Soaring Directly Up,’ where when you stand by the lake, the boundless water surface greets you with a moist and fresh sensation, as if you are immersed in a green ocean, a world of water, which is very pleasant. In Mingzhu Lake Park, there is a long, narrow bridge that can only accommodate two people walking side by side, known as the ‘Lovers’ Bridge.’ Strolling on the bridge, you can see couples riding tandem bicycles on forest paths, people lazily basking in the sun on the lawn, and leisurely observing the flowers and wild grasses on both banks, truly embodying the saying ‘one travels through a painting, with emotions entrusted to the green waters.’ The water sports base is a place for water sports competition, leisure sports experience, and training. It is a great time to encounter children’s sailing training and children’s rest ending, running back to the base’s island viewing walkway, water trestle bridge, south dock, scenic bridge, and Rainbow Bridge, all part of the Mingzhu Lake landscape stone and Xisha National Wetland Park located at the southwest end of Chongming Island, facing Mingzhu Lake across the dike, with a total area of 5,400 acres. It is the core exhibition area of Chongming Island National Geopark, the location of the Chongming Island National Geopark monument, a national AAAA-level scenic spot, and the only natural tidal phenomenon in Shanghai, with a natural wetland of the Yangtze River beach and a forest marsh and reed marsh as one, and the first national wetland park in Shanghai. The island viewing walkway, cedar scenery lake platform, flower stream station, and water lily belt, as well as the floating trestle bridge, are still under construction. The forest slanting house: a magical visual experience, although it is being renovated internally, it is a small house of less than 15 square meters, but it will bring you an indescribable feeling. Here, you can personally feel the brain balance brought by vision, which has significant scientific and educational significance. The soft purple grass landscape belt, after crossing this bridge, is the goose release: the only goose release performance base in the East China region. After professional trainers’ training, hundreds of geese soar and dance, flying through the blue sky and white clouds, playing in the clear water surface, interacting warmly with tourists, the scene is grand and magnificent, and it is the best choice for many tourists and photography enthusiasts. At the goose release site, you can see a large number of geese, which is very interesting, and the geese are very cute. As part of the Shanghai City’s extremely small species – the deer breeding and protection project, the purpose is to establish a semi-free-ranging population of deer in Mingzhu Lake, improve the wetland and forest ecosystem of Chongming Island, increase biodiversity, and eventually form a self-breeding wild population of native species within the park.
Public transportation routes: Wenshui Road subway station (Shenchong Line 3) & Wuzhou Avenue subway station (Shenchong Line 6) → Nanmen bus station → Nanniu Line bus → Xisha Mingzhu Lake scenic area. Ferry route: Baoyang Road Wharf & Shidongkou Wharf → Nanmen bus station → Nanniu Line bus → Xisha Mingzhu Lake scenic area. Xisha Mingzhu Lake tourist direct bus: Start date: Daily departure (seats need to be reserved in advance). Departure location: Shanghai Tourist Distribution Center. Self-driving route: Shanghai urban area → Wuzhou Avenue → Shanghai Yangtze River Tunnel Bridge → Chenhai Highway → Sanhua Highway → Xisha Mingzhu Lake scenic area. Northern Jiangsu area → Chongqi Bridge → Xianghua Highway → Chenhai Highway → Sanhua Highway → Xisha Mingzhu Lake scenic area.

Related Content：

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply