Xingyun Lake in Jiangchuan District, Yuxi

Why is the Xingyun Lake So Special?

Xingyun Lake in Jiangchuan County

Xingyun Lake is located at 1 km from the north of Jiangchuan District, commonly known as Jiangchuan Sea. The Xingyun Lake and the Fuxian Lake are separated by a mountain and linked by a river. The lake is 10.5 km long from north to south, 3.8 km wide from east to west, 2.3 km at the narrowest point, 36.3 km long along the shore of the lake, with a total area of 34.71 square kilometers and an average water depth of 7 m. Maximum depth is 10 meters, and the transparency is about 1.5 meters. Because of the clear and dark green lake, on the night of bright moonlight, the bright moonlight reflected the lake, this scene is shining like stars and bright as cloud, so named Xingyun Lake. Xingyun Lake is a nutritious lake, which is a natural place to develop aquaculture industry.

The lake was once polluted. At present, the lake water has been grade 4 water quality, is a nutritious lake and a natural place to develop aquaculture. Jiangchuan District has built a lakeside park, a total area of 180 mu. It is divided into reception area and recreation area, distribution area. Reception area is in the name of building resorts; recreation and distribution area was constructed in 1986, a total area of 60 mu.

Where is the Xingyun Lake?

Xingyun Lake is located in Dajie Town, Jiangchuan District, Yuxi, Yunnan, 1 kilometer from the north of county seat. Xingyun Lake also known as Jiangchuan Sea, is a plateau lake in Yunnan Province, southwest of China. The Xingyun Lake and the Fuxian Lake are separated by a mountain and linked by a river. The lake has a total area of about 34.71 square kilometers. The average depth is 7 m, with an elevation of 1722 m. The water storage capacity is about 0.184 billion cubic meters.

Nearby Attractions

1. Fuxian Lake抚仙湖

Fuxian Lake stretches out through Chengjiang, Jiangchuan and Huaning Counties in Yunnan Province, covering an area of 212 square kilometers. The lake is the third-largest lake in Yunnan, after Dianchi Lake and Erhai Lake. Also it is the deepest lake in Yunnan with 155 meters of its greatest depth. The lake is also the third-deepest fresh water lake in China, after Tianchi and Kanas Lake. It belongs to Nanpan river system. The lake is gourd-shaped with 1053 square kilometers runoff area.

2. Luchong Scenic Spot禄充景区

Luchong Scenic Spot is the most beautiful scenic spots on the west bank of Fuxian lake, 19 kilometers away from Chengjiang county. Important attractions of Luchong scenic spot include Jianshan mountain尖山, Qilin mountain麒麟山, Wenchang palace文昌宫, Grand Buddha temple大佛寺, Laoyu village老渔村, Dadong Cave大洞, golden beach, Bosiwan波息湾, Biyan park笔砚公园 and Bijia mountain笔架山.

3. Biyun Temple碧云寺

Biyun Mountain, located behind the Mingxing village of Jiangcheng Town, Jiangchuan District, has Fuxian Lake in front of it. On the right is the “Yingshange应山歌”, and on the left is the “Anti-wave Fish Cave抗浪鱼洞”. Biyun Temple is on Biyun Mountain, also known as “Wudang Yard武当别院”, is a branch of Hubei Wudang Mountain, built in the Qing Qianlong period.

4. Gushan Mountain Scenic Spot孤山风景区

Gushan scenic spot is the earliest scenic spot developed by Fuxian lake and the first provincial scenic spot in Yunnan province. A number of high-end hotels, including Sunshine Coast, Ruiwen Hotel and Yuboyuan Hotel, as well as rural featured farmhouses, ruby beach and Qinjiawan beach, all of these constitute a tourism service system integrating food, accommodation, travel, shopping and entertainment.

5. Haimen Park海门公园

Haimen Park is located in the middle of Xingyun Lake and Fuxian Lake in Jiangchuan District, next to Haimen Village of Longjie Town in Chengjiang County, about 17 kilometers from the county seat, also known as Jieyushi Park界鱼石公园. It is a scenic spot with various landscapes.

Best Time to Visit

Xingyun Lake in Jiangchuan County

Enjoying a subtropical monsoon climate, tour is possible all the year round. However, the best season to travel at Fuxian-Xingyun  Lake is Summer, usually from May to October, the hottest time of Yuxi.

How to Get There?

Traveling at Fuxian Lake and Xingyun Lake, the traffic is very convenient. There are two routes available.

Firstly, departing from Kunming. You can take non-stop buses from Kunming South Bus Station to Chengjiang County, about one and a half hours drive(the whole course is highway and secondary road, the road surface is intact). After arriving in Chengjiang County, you can take the local minivan to reach Luchong Scenic area禄充风景区, where you can see the beautiful Fuxian Lake and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the plateau lake. Starting from LuChong, along the way you can also sightseeing Mingxing fish cave, Biyun Temple, Gushan Mountain, and then take a bus from Jiangchuan District to Yuxi City, from Yuxi to Kunming (the whole course is highway).

Secondly, departing from Yuxi. After arriving in Kunming, you can go to Yuxi by train. After sightseeing in Yuxi, you will go to Jiangchuan District. Taking local manned minivan to the Sunshine Coast Scenic spot, there are artificial beaches, white sand, and transparent lake water. The opposite of the scenic area, less than 200 meters, is the Gushan Mountain Scenic spot, you can enter by boat. From the Sunshine Coast all the way to Chengjiang County, there are Biyun Temple, Mingxing Fish Cave, LuChong Scenic spot. When you get to Chengjiang, you can take the bus from Chengjiang to Kunming directly.

Xingyun Lake in Jiangchuan County

Kunming-Chengjiang County

There are midibuses from Kunming South Bus Station to Chengjiang County. It takes about 1 hour and a half to Chengjiang Bus Terminal. Ticket price is about 20 yuan each person. The phone number of Kunming South Bus Station is 0871-67361722.

Kunming-Yuxi

There is railway station in Yuxi. You will spend about 1 hour and 15 minutes on the train. The lowest ticket price  is CNY 16.5.

Accommodation at Xingyun Lake

Sunshine coast, Luchong  scenic spot and other scenic spots are equipped with complete accommodation facilities, you can choose hotels or hostels according to your own needs. Hotels are generally clean with complete facilities. At Fuxian Lake and Xingyun Lake, it is easy to find a place to stay. There are hotels and hostels at all scenic spots. You can choose to stay at the lakeside scenic spots, or stay  in Chengjiang County or Jiangchuan District. We recommend to stay at the scenic spots by the lake, so that you can also enjoy the sunrise of Fuxian Lake in the next morning. What a pleasant thing!

Useful Travel Tips

Xingyun Lake in Jiangchuan County

1. Xingyun Lake fishing begins on every December 25. In this season of each year, Jiangchuan District forms a fish street, as well as at several densely populated fishing villages along the highway or the lake, fish sellers can be found everywhere.

2. Huayao Dai people there do not celebrate water-splashing festival, but Huajie(flowers street) festival花街节. And this festival is celebrated twice a year. The first time is on the 13th day of the first lunar month, called “Shang Huajie上花街”; The second time is on the 6th day of the 5th lunar month, called “Xia Huajie下花街”. 

3. The water in Xingyun lake is deep, therefore, if you are not good at swimming, please wear the life vest when you are doing some water sports.

4. Fuxian Lake is close to Xingyun Lake, you are suggested to visit Fuxian Lake when traveling Xingyun Lake. There are many scenic spots around Fuxian Lake.