Poyang Lake National Wetland Park 鄱阳湖国家湿地公园

About Poyang Lake National Wetland Park

The park is not one body of water but a mosaic: lakes, river channels, grass flats, mud flats, islands and ponds. Poyang Lake itself receives the Gan, Fu, Xin, Rao and Xiu rivers and drains north into the Yangtze, and Shangrao's municipal government describes the park as one of the world's six great wetlands and as the national wetland park with the largest wetland area and richest wetland species in Asia. It is a national 4A tourist area and a designated Chinese science-education base.

What a visitor finds depends entirely on the season. The lake has long been described as a sheet of water in flood and a thread in low water. The low-water period runs from September to the following May, when the retreating lake exposes wide grassland and stands of knotweed flowers. Bird numbers, flowering and the extent of open water all vary from year to year, and no particular display can be promised.

What to look for

• The mixture of habitats within the park: open lake, river channels, grass flats, mud flats, islands and ponds
• The exposed grassland and knotweed flowers that appear in the low-water period between September and May
• The scale of the lake itself, China's largest freshwater lake, fed by the Gan, Fu, Xin, Rao and Xiu rivers and draining into the Yangtze
• The park's standing as a designated Chinese science-education base

Location & getting there

Getting to Poyang Lake National Wetland Park

Check the open visitor route and follow the site’s rules on distance, food and photography. Conservation areas may limit access beyond designated paths.

• Search for 鄱阳湖国家湿地公园 with 上饶市 and 鄱阳县.