The Dongting Lake (dòng tíng hú 洞庭湖) in Yueyang is the relic of the ancient Yunmeng Pool (yún mèng zé 云梦泽), it is very vast and was known as the “eight- hundred Li Dong Ting Lake” since ancient times. Although its size has been smaller than ever before, twice, Dongting Lake is still the second largest freshwater lake in China.

The clouds and mist covers the vast expanse of waters. The waters and skies merge in one color. No wonder a famous Chinese poet in Northern Song Dynasty Fan Zhongyan said in his poem “I observed the wonderful scenery of Baling (bā líng 巴陵), which depends primarily on the great Dongting Lake. It looks as holding the remote mountains in mouth and swallowing the Yangtze River. It is so vast, mighty and boundless! Over the lake the sky appears bright at morning and overcast in the evening; the scenery is so spectacular and majestic as people's expected”.

The Dongting Lake straddles Hunan and Hubei province, which ties the Yangtze River (cháng jiāng长江) in the north and connects Xiang (xiāng 湘), Zi (zī 资), Yuan (yuán 沅) and Feng (fēng 酆) water in the south. The name “Dongting” means the abode of fairies and immortals which indicates the beauty of its charming scenery. The most prominent feature of Dongting Lake is that there are lakes outside the lake and mountains outside the mountain.

The ancient Chinese people had already concluded the most fascinating view of the beauty of Dongting Lake. Fortunately, people nowadays still own the chance to appreciate five sceneries of the Eight Grand Sights in Hunan Province (xiāo xiāng bā jǐng 潇湘八景) which includes the moon on Dongting Lake (dòng tíng qiū yuè 洞庭秋月), sail return from the far away Riverside (yuǎn pǔ guī fān 远浦归帆), the river sky evening snow (jiāng tiān mù xuě 江天暮雪), wild geese on the sand island (píng shā luò yàn 平沙落雁), fishing village at sunset (yú cūn xī zhào 渔村夕照), and also the ten sights of Dongting Lake, such as day view, moon shadow, clouds, snow shadow, the shadow of mountain, pagoda, sail, fishing, gulls and also wild geese.

You cannot miss the San Jiang Kou Entrance (sān jiāng kǒu 三江口) where Xiang River, Jing River and Dongting Lake converge into the Yangtze River, which makes you broad-minded. What’s more, Junshan Island (jūn shān dǎo 君山岛), the Mount of Censer (xiāng lú fēng 香炉峰) and the lotus pond are worth a visit.

The appearance of Dongting Lake varies throughout the different seasons, sometimes even during the same day. Many ancient Chinese poems and stories were written about the beauty of Dongting Lake. Dongting Lake has become an antidote to the meaningless worries of busy life.