Where there is a mountain, there is water, and where a beautiful mountain exists, one can also find attractive water. The mountain gives rise to the water, and the water is the mountains life-blood. The mountain is more splendid as it reflects the mountain. Gracious people enjoy the mountains, and wise ones relish the water. We can’t regard them kind women if they find no interest in majestic mountains, neither consider them good men who have no taste for graceful waters.

Baofeng Lake Scenic Area, part of the larger Wuling Yuan Scenic Area of Hunan Province that was listed as a World Heritage site in 1992, is situated on and around Mount Baofeng in the northern part of the province, not far from the metropolis of Changde. Baofeng Lake Scenic Area comprises some 275 hectares, and consists of Baofeng Lake and Yingwo Stockade Village.

Because of its association with the Baofeng Mountain Range, the lake bears the name of Baofeng. With an average depth of 72 meters, Baofeng Lake covers an area of 15 hectares, and can hold 6 million cubic meters of water at full capacity. This water is produced by rainfall, mountain springs and underground streams, and stays emerald all year around, so it is reputed as Paradise in the Human World. Beautiful scenery in this area include: Baofeng Waterfall, Stone Gate Welcoming Guests, Peacock Displaying Colorful Tail, and Golden Toad Biting the Moon, Fairy Lady Reflected in the Lake and so on.

There are also majestic waterfalls that seem to pour out of the mountainside and which add an even more invigorating freshness to the air. Not far from the lake it is a deep, gorge-like valley that is less than 4 meters wide on average, and creates a most unusual sight when one views the sky from the valley floor: the sky up above looks like a long, wavy, silk ribbon. It is one of the most unique sights in all of China, and, indeed, anywhere in the world.

Wuling Yuan Scenic Area certainly boasts other spectacularly beautiful sites, but Baofeng Lake, with its deep, serene waters and its fairytale-like, pristine surroundings, ranks among the top attractions of Wuling Yuan. As is typical for Chinese architects of old, manmade structures that must necessarily intrude on such a uniquely beautiful landscape have been erected with a minimum of violence, as it were, to the work of Mother Nature.