Tai Hu Travel Guide

One of the four largest freshwater lakes in China, constantly replenished by heavy rains, Tai Hu is liberally sprinkled with islands and surrounded by wooded hills. With an average depth of just two metres, it's a natural reservoir of relatively unpolluted water, where fish are bred, and lotus and water-chestnut grown in ideal conditions on the islands. Other plant- and wildlife is rich, too, and the shores are clad with tea plantations and orchards of loquat, pear, peach, apricot and plum, particularly on the western side among the caves and potteries of Yixing County . The southeastern shore of the lake, particularly the charming rural areas of Dong Shan and Xi Shan , are most easily visited from Suzhou, but the most famous and popular Tai Hu scenic area, Yuantou Zhu , is best visited from the town of Wuxi , set in a landscape of water, fertile plains and low hills some 40km to the northwest of Suzhou. Finally, away from the lake - but still dominated by water and water transport - lies the traditional canal city of Changzhou , just 30km north of Wuxi along the Nanjing rail line.