Photos of Jianhu

Jianhu Lake is located in the southeast of Jianchuan County, Yunnan Province. It can be reached by walking along the embankment of the Jinlong River for about 6 miles after exiting the east gate of the county. Jianhu Lake is about 25 miles in circumference, with a water surface of nearly 8 square kilometers in normal times (much wider in the rainy season) and an average water depth of more than 4 meters. The water temperature of Jianhu Lake is moderate, with an average annual water temperature of about 11C. In the early morning of the middle of winter every year, only a little thin ice forms on the lakeside. With its exceptionally clean water quality, Jianhu Lake can be called a bright pearl inlaid on the plateau in northwest Yunnan. Jianhu Lake has abundant water sources. In addition to the injection of Gemei River, Jinlong River, Yongfeng River, Huilong River, etc., there are also four self-gushing springs in the lake, which boil out, so that the Haiwei River at the outlet of Jianhu Lake can be used all year round. It leaked out, making the entire Sword Lake become a living water. Among the "Eight Sceneries of Jianhu Lake" praised by predecessors, Jianhu Lake occupies two of them. According to the "Jianchuan State Chronicle" compiled in the 52nd year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, the spectacle of "Haimen Qiuyue" is "on the evening of the Mid-Autumn Festival, before the moon rises, there is a moon reflection in the water of Haimen." The wonder of "fishing lanterns on the sea" is "the fishermen on the lake are fishing quietly at night, and the fire is like a starry sky". Unfortunately, due to the shrinking water surface, the spectacle of "Haimen Qiuyue" is no longer there. The beauty of "fishing lights on the sea" can still be seen. Every year on the 15th day of the sixth lunar month, it is the period of the sea-circling meeting in the countryside around Jianhu Lake. At that time, the villagers of each village will be like a festival, and they will take their own villages as a starting point and circle around Jianhu Lake. In this way, the villagers in the villages along the lake are both hosts and guests - they are hosts when they entertain people from other villages in their own village, and they become guests when they leave their own village and enter other villages. Along the way, young people sang and danced, and the elders talked about the past and the present, and gave each other tea and candy when passing through the village. Through the circumnavigation meeting, the villagers in each village can not only increase contact with each other, increase understanding, and enhance friendship, but also cultivate their temperament and entertain themselves. Therefore, it can be followed from year to year, and it has continued to this day.