洞庭湖

Why this place

Dongting is the second-largest freshwater lake in China, and it is the lake of Yueyang Tower and of the most memorised essay in Chinese — Fan Zhongyan's 'Record of Yueyang Tower'. Junshan island in the middle produces the famous silver-needle tea, and the lake is huge, shallow and full of birds in winter.

What to see

• Yueyang Tower, on the lakeside, with the view the essay describes
• Junshan island and the silver-needle tea terraces
• The Miluo River mouth and Qu Yuan's temples, where the poet drowned
• The lake in winter, when it holds enormous numbers of wintering waterbirds

What to eat

• Dongting lake fish and shrimp — silver fish and lake crab are the specialties
• Junshan silver needle tea, which stands upright when brewed

How to plan

One day at Yueyang, or two with Junshan.

Best time

April–June and September–November; November–February for the birds