Tianhu Lakes 天湖

About Tianhu Lakes

The wetland park covers 806.89 hectares and is centred on four high-mountain reservoirs — Sanlujiang, Tianhu, Haiyangping and Qianchi — with the ground divided into five functional zones for conservation, restoration, interpretation, regulated use and management. Alongside the reservoirs it takes in large tracts of old-growth forest, alpine grassland and mountain streams, and the forestry authorities describe what it protects as a high-mountain forest-grass-water ecosystem. The park is the source of the Shanchuan River, a second-order tributary of the Xiang River. Cloud and mist lie over it for about three quarters of the year and relative humidity stays above 95 per cent.

Tianhu became a National Wetland Park through the 2022 round of acceptance inspections, when the National Forestry and Grassland Administration passed 61 pilot parks nationally, three of them in Guangxi, bringing the region's total to 19. The Guangxi forestry bureau describes Tianhu as the only high-altitude national wetland park in the region, and as a wetland formed of a group of alpine lakes of a kind uncommon in southern China.

What to look for

• The four high-mountain reservoirs the park is built around — Sanlujiang, Tianhu, Haiyangping and Qianchi.
• The alpine grassland and old-growth forest that make up the park alongside its water bodies.
• The head of the Shanchuan River, a second-order tributary of the Xiang River, which rises inside the park.
• The standing cloud and mist, recorded over the park for about three quarters of the year.

Location & getting there

Getting to Tianhu Lakes

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

• Search for 天湖 with 桂林市 and 全州县.