Beneath the picturesque Thousand Islets Lake (Qiandao Lake ) sleep He and Shi, two thousand-year-old ancient cities that were built respectively in the Han (206BC-220AD) and Tang dynasties (618-907).

The Thousand Islets Lake was formed as a reservoir for the Xin'an Waterpower Plant in 1959, forcing the migration of 290,000 people, whose homes were flooded by the lake. In the project the Chun'an and Sui'an counties united into the current Chui'an County.

More than 40 years later, do the two underground cities remain? What do they look like now? Is it possible to make the two cities into a new tourism attraction?

Introduction to the cities

The downtown area of Sui'an County is generally known as Shi City (city of lion literally in Chinese). Built 1,800 years ago in 208, the city is now located in the Maotoujian Region of the Thousand Islets Lake, 40 kilometers (km) from Thousand Islets Lake Village.

                                                                       More...

Underwater reserve

To protect the underwater cities from man-made damages, the underwater reserve was established in 2002. Previously, the local fishing industry, especially with its huge fishing net, had seriously damaged the underwater buildings.

More...

Explorative measures

The tourism administration of the Thousand Islets Lake is currently considering two options on building some facilities to give common visitors access to the unique underwater cities.

More...

Author: Jeff

All rights reserved. Reproduction of text for non-commercial purposes is permitted provided that both the source and author are acknowledged and a notifying email is sent to us.