Shuifumiao Reservoir 水府庙

About Shuifumiao Reservoir

The name predates the dam. Where the Lian River passed Guangjing village in Xingzipu town, Shuangfeng County, two rapids were feared by boatmen, and in the Ming Wanli era a temple called Shuifumiao was built where the two met, intended to subdue the water. In 1958 the provincial government decided to dam the river near that temple; a diversion dam and canal system was built at Yangtan, 18 kilometres downstream, to irrigate farmland across seven districts and counties, and this became the Shaoshan Irrigation District. The reservoir was finished in 1959 and began impounding the following year, built with an average of 25,000 people working each day. It now supplies nearly two million people across Xiangtan and Loudi and close to a million mu of farmland, and its shoreline of more than 430 kilometres winds between Xiangxiang City, Shuangfeng County and Louxing District.

The reservoir is the core of a national water conservancy scenic area, a national wetland park and a national 4A tourist area. Shuifumiao National Wetland Park covers 18,445 hectares of mainly river and artificial wetland, and the Hunan Provincial Forestry Bureau describes it as the national wetland park with the largest water area in the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan region. Large-scale cage and enclosure fish farming from the 1980s pushed water quality down to Grade IV; more than 43,000 cages and 369 enclosures were cleared in 2017, Xiangxiang removed over 840 fishing platforms and restored 7,780 mu of shallows in 2018, and the water is now reported as consistently Grade II. Surveys record 802 species of higher plants in 147 families, 56 fish species, 21 mammals and 125 birds, among them fifteen species under national first- or second-class protection; a black stork was recorded here for the first time in February 2022.

What to look for

• The dam across the Lian River, completed in 1959, at the Shuangfeng County side of the reservoir
• The island-studded reservoir basin, where the impounded water left former hilltops standing as islands
• The wetland park shoreline and boardwalks used for birdwatching, with 125 recorded species
• Waterbirds of conservation interest recorded here, including black stork, Eurasian spoonbill, tundra swan and western marsh harrier

Location & getting there

Getting to Shuifumiao Reservoir

Confirm the visitor entrance and which boat or walking routes operate on your date. Rainfall, water levels and weather can change access.

• Search for 水府庙 with 湘潭市 and 湘乡市.