Poyang Lake · regional wetland landscape 鄱阳湖·区域湿地景观

About Poyang Lake · regional wetland landscape

Seasonal water levels expose grasslands and shallow pools that support migratory birds, with the Wucheng area offering a practical base for observing this environment. Dahu Chi’s designated viewing points keep visitors at a distance from the feeding areas. Bird numbers and visible species vary with season and water conditions; the wider pattern of water, reeds and grass is part of the visit.

The lake was known in antiquity as Pengli Marsh (彭蠡泽); before the Han dynasty the Yangtze ran a more northerly course and the Gan River (赣江) formed a plain where the lake now lies. Around AD 400, in the late Eastern Jin, the river's main channel shifted south near present-day Jiujiang and Hukou, backing up the Gan River and forming Poyang Lake. The rising water flooded Poyang and Haihun counties, forcing a migration to Wucheng (吴城) in what is now Yongxiu County, giving rise to the saying 'Drowning Haihun County gives rise to Wucheng Township' (沉海昏，起吴城).

The lake runs 173 km from north to south and up to 74 km east to west, with a shoreline of 1,200 km; at a Hukou water level of 21.71 metres it covers 3,283 square kilometres, China's second-largest lake and the largest of its five great freshwater lakes. Songmen Mountain (松门山) divides it into a broad, shallow southern section and a narrower, deeper northern channel through which the lake drains north into the Yangtze at Hukou.

Fishing has been banned on the lake since 2002, and in January 2020 China extended a ten-year moratorium to 332 Yangtze sites, including Poyang Lake, to protect biodiversity. The lake supports about half a million migratory birds, and up to 90% of Siberian cranes winter there.

What to look for

• The seasonal mosaic of shallow water, reed beds and exposed wetland grassland.
• Dahu Chi’s designated bird-viewing points near Wucheng.

Location & getting there

Getting to Poyang Lake · regional wetland landscape

For this suggested wetland visit, arrange transport to Wucheng Town in Yongxiu County and use its visitor facilities to check access to Dahu Chi. The lake-wide map point is not a visitor entrance.