East Lake is a large lake within the city limits of Wuhan, China, and the largest[citation needed] urban lake in China. Wuhan's East Lake covers an area of 33 square kilometers. It was designated as one of the 4A tourist zones of China in 2000. East Lake has a bird sanctuary, botanical garden, museums, boat rides, fishing, cycling, a public aquarium, and other activities for locals and tourists alike.

Spectacular Hills and Lakes

    The East Lake Scenic Area boasts fascinating sceneries divided into five zones, and four of them are opened to public: Tingtao Zone (wave listening), Mo Mountain, Chuidi Zone (flute playing) and Luoyan Zone (wild goose perching), with over 1000 scenery spots. There are 12 lakes in the Scenic Area, which covers 33 kilometers sq. 120 islands spread over the lake. It also owns abundant trees which covers over 10,000 hectares. It's just like a painting to see the hills reflect in the lakes. The East Lake Scenic Area is beautiful all year round. In spring, you can enjoy lush hills and clear and sparkling lakes, bird songs and rich variety of flowers in full blossom. In summer, you can take a boat in the lake and observe the wonderful view of the hills and feel the cool breeze from the water. In fall, the hills are covered with maple leaves, and you can also smell the air filled with the aroma of the laurel. In the winter, you can wander in the plum garden and enjoy the plum flowers covered with snow and watch migrating birds flying overhead.

Rich Cultural Heritage

     The East Lake Scenic Area is the biggest tourist centre of ancient Chu culture. It revives the Chu style and Chu charm. Xingyin Pavilion (make poem while walking) is the nationwide famous scenic spot. Lisao Tomb gains its reputation for the beautiful lyrics on it, the Chu Heaven Platform, which is located at the peak of the Mo Mountain, offers a platform to overlook the whole city. And the Chu Talent Park introduces a lot of ancient celebrities. There are also some other renowned and inspiring scenic spots such as Chu Bazarre, Quyuan Statue ( Quyuan, the patriotic poet of the Warring States period [403-221 BC] who drowned himself in a tributary of the Yangtze River) and Quyuan Memorial.
    Around the East Lake Scenic Area, there are 26 famous universities such as Wuhan University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology and China University of Geosciences etc, 56 science institutions of different levels, such as china Academy of Science and the Botanic Garden, and the famous "Optic Valley" - the national optoelectronic industry base is located in the East Lake New Tech Development Zone, Jiufeng Forest Reserve, Hubei Provincial Museum, Hubei Provincial Art Gallery. All of these add to the attractiveness of the East Lake.

Unique Gardens inside Gardens

    The Plum Garden in the scenic area is the best of the four plum gardens in china. It introduces 309 species of plums on its 12,00 mu land. There are 262 registered plum species in the world, and plum garden has 152 of them. It's also the china plum research centre.
The Lotus Garden introduces 505 species of lotus and over 20 kinds of water plants. And it is the china lotus research centre.

The Sakura (cherry blossom) Garden of the East Lake covers the area of 150 mu. The 5000 sakura trees are in full blossom in spring. It's one of three world famous sakura gardens (the other two are Hirosaki Sakura Garden in Japan and Washington Sakura Garden in America)
You can also enjoy many other gardens, such as Laurel Garden, Azalea Garden, Rose Garden, Water Plant Garden, Pine Garden, and Bonsai Garden etc.

Colourflu Festival Ceremonies

    The Scenic Area is the sea of flowers and the world of water as well. "Festivals every month, flowers every season" add to the charm of Eastlake. There is a string of flower festivals all year round. The notable are orchid in spring, lotus in summer, laurel in autumn and plum in winter. Every year, we host colorful festivals with different themes: Folk Art Festival, China Plum Festival, Sakura Festival, Peony Flower Festival, Dragonboat Festival, Gardening Festival in Fall etc. It attracts a lot of tourists every year.