Changhu Lake 长湖

About Changhu Lake

The Shilin tourism site's description of the scenic area calls Changhu Lake a karst lake formed by strata faulting and named for its elongated shape, and gives it a circumference of about 5.5 kilometres, a width of more than 300 metres and a maximum depth of 24 metres, its water supplied by an underground river and clear. A 2010 management-bureau prospectus gives the lake as about 3,000 metres long and 400 metres wide, with a water area of 80 hectares, calls it a plateau fault-basin freshwater lake, and notes two small tree-covered islands that can be reached over exposed rock when the water is low, the remains of a Yi-uprising stockade at Dushishan beside the lake, vegetation cover of 95 per cent at its project site and no industrial enterprises there. The first-level protected zone takes in Mopanshan, Changhu Lake, the Da and Xiao Jianshan peaks and Dushishan and covers 5.12 square kilometres, the remainder of the area falling into second- and third-level zones; because it was developed later than other parts of Shilin, it has kept its original vegetation and landscape.

The Sani people have lived at Changhu Lake for generations and still use and pass on their own spoken and written language. The bureau names the narrative poem Ashima, the song 'Far Guests, Please Stay', the Torch Festival, the Da San Xian (big three-string) dance and Sani embroidery as their most influential traditions, alongside distinctive folk observances such as the Mizhi Festival and mountain-god worship. The neighbouring village of Weize, immediately beside the lake, is a mainly Yi settlement whose settlement pattern, food, dress, weddings and funerals and festival dances the prospectus calls distinctive.

What to look for

• The lake itself, a karst lake formed by strata faulting with a circumference of about 5.5 kilometres and a maximum depth of 24 metres
• The two small tree-covered islands in the lake, reachable over exposed rock when the water is low
• The remains of the Yi-uprising stockade on Dushishan, beside the lake
• Weize village, the mainly Yi settlement immediately beside the lake, distinctive in its dress, food and festival dances
• Sani cultural traditions associated with the lake, including the Torch Festival and the Da San Xian dance

Location & getting there

Getting to Changhu Lake

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

• Search for 长湖 with 昆明市 and 石林彝族自治县.