Lake Taihu - Turtle Head Peninsula

Lake Taihu (太湖) is a famous scenic spot in China. Turtle Head Peninsula (黿頭渚), located in the northwest shore of Lake Taihu, gets its name because of its huge rocks projecting into the lake, appearing as if a swimming turtle tossing its head. It is endowed by nature, with green hills and clear water. Tourist call it "the best tesort on Lake Taihu" and consider it as the best spot to enjoy the natural beauty on Lake Taihu. Mr. Guo Moruo, a well-known poet wrote a poem in praise: The supreme view of Lake Taihu scenery, after all, lies in Turtle Head Peninsula ("太湖佳絕處, 畢竟在黿頭").

Company arranged a tour to YuanTouZhu (Turtle Head Peninsula) last Sunday. We set up from Kunshan at 8 o'clock in the morning with travel bus. The drive is around one and a half hour.

Arrived at YuanTouZhu, the weather is a little bit foggy. There are already crowd of people visiting at that time. We directly move to the quay and queue for the boat going to Fairy Islands (太湖仙島). The Fairy Islands really looks like a swimming turtle tossing its head (see here).


Fairy Islands, as its name, has a lot of 'fairy' scenic spots here, such as: South-Heaven Gate (南天門), Water-Curtained Cave (水廉洞) of the Monkey King SunWuKong, Taoist Altar (太乙天壇), Lying Buddha (臥佛), Great Bronze Statue of Lao Zi (老子銅像), Heavon Emperor Palace (靈霄宮), and more. There are many places to visit here as we waste around 2 hours and then queue for about half an hour for the boat back to main quay.

On the main scenic area, there are two places must visit: Superb View of Taihu Lake (太湖佳絕處) and Sino-Japan friendship Cherry Woods (中日櫻花友誼林). It is especially beautiful in spring while pink and white cherry blossoms are blooming.


Overall, Lake Taihu view is great, but Lake Xihu is much more beautiful of course.

Related information:

• Transportation (How to get there):
  Take K1 or K87 bus from Wuxi Train Station (fare 2 rmb, duration 30 to 40 minutes)
• Ticket price: 105 rmb/person (group: 61 rmb/person)
• Open hours: 06:00 ~ 17:00
• Website:
  1. http://www.ytz.com.cn/
  2. http://www.jstour.com/col992/info.htm1?infoid=4033