Nanjing City, Jiangsu, China

21. Xuanwu Lake Park

This park is almost entirely covered by the waters of a large urban lake, but you can walk along causeways or take a boat out to its central forested islands. A long path goes around the shores of Xuanwu Lake, beside the old city walls for much of its length. However the park has an urban feel to it. You can enter Xuanwu Lake Park from the main gate off Zhongyang Lu. We enjoyed the walk.

Lake Xuanwu is situated in the northeast of Nanjing City, with an area of 444 hectares, of which islets occupy only one-ninth. It is the largest lake in Nanjing. Xiaowu Emperor of the Song Dynasty once inspected the navy on the lake. In the Ming Dynasty, an imperial storehouse was built at Lake Xuanwu for storing national census records and grain tax documents. There are five islets on Lake Xuanwu: Isle Huanzhou, Islet Yingzhou, Islet Liangzhou, Islet Cuizhou and Islet Lingzhou. The islets are covered by flowers, grass and trees, and connected by dykes and bridges.