☆The Lake of a Thousand Islands ☆

By Monique Van Dijk
The Lake of a Thousand Islands is one of China's best kept secrets. A new lake by Chinese standards, this beautiful reservoir of islands and blue waterways was created by the damming of the Xin'an River in 1959. The pristine waters and green forests of the lake are the result of careful conservation, and in 2004 the Lake of a Thousand Islands gained the gold laurel for a B-type city at the Eighth International Park City Awards – the only winner in the entire southeast Asia region. These days, the Lake of a Thousand Islands is a model Chinese lakeside resort; a forerunner in the emerging leisure tourism and recreation industries.

Monique Van Dijk's book is the first English language publication to delve exclusively into this new region, one of China's most recently emerged natural tourist attractions.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

The local people that I befriended during the writing of this book would often ask me what I liked most about the Lake of a Thousands Islands. I was always at a loss as to how to answer their question – how could I explain in my limited Chinese something that I could barely describe in English? Because the thing that I like the most about the Lake of a Thousand Islands is not something tangible, such as the jade green islets or beautiful resorts, but something more elusive – the feeling that the waters of the lake evoke. The feeling as you glide through the mist across iridescent waters; as you dive off golden rocks for a refreshing dip on a hot day; as you drift lazily across the reservoir beneath the setting sun; and at the end of the day as you look out across an endless stretch of dark water beneath a moonlit sky. It is the feeling that it doesn't matter whether I am in New Zealand or China, as long as there is clear water and blue sky I am home.
Monique Van Dijk

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