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Lake Tai | |||||||||||
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Chinese | 太湖 | ||||||||||
Literal meaning | Great Lake | ||||||||||
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Taihu (Chinese :太湖),also known as Lake Tai or Lake Taihu,is a lake in the Yangtze Delta and one of the largest freshwater lakes in China. The lake is in Jiangsu province and a significant part of its southern shore forms its border with Zhejiang. With an area of 2,250 square kilometers (869 sq mi) and an average depth of 2 meters (6.6 ft), [1] it is the third-largest freshwater lake entirely in China,after Poyang and Dongting. [lower-alpha 1] The lake contains about 90 islands,ranging in size from a few square meters to several square kilometers.
Lake Tai is linked to the Grand Canal and is the origin of a number of rivers,including Suzhou Creek. In recent years,Lake Tai has been plagued by pollution as the surrounding region experienced rapid industrial development.
Scientific studies suggest that Lake Tai's circular structure is the result of a meteor impact,which resulted in shatter cones,shock-metamorphosed quartz,microtektites,and shock-metamorphic unloading fractures. [2] The prospective impact crater has been dated to be greater than 70 million years old and possibly from the late Devonian Period. [3] However,new research suggests that present evidence shows no impact crater structure or shock-mineral at Lake Tai. [4] Fossils indicate that Lake Tai was dry land until the ingression of the East China Sea during the Holocene epoch. The growing deltas of the Yangtze and Qiantang rivers eventually sealed off Lake Tai from the sea,and the influx of fresh water from rivers and rains turned it into a freshwater lake.
There are limestone formations at the foot of the adjacent Dongting Mountain (洞庭山). These "scholar's rocks" or "Taihu stones" are often prized as a decorating material for traditional Chinese gardens,as exemplified by those preserved in nearby Suzhou.
Three of the lake's islands are preserved as a national geological park under the name Sanshan. They are famed as a former haunt of local bandits.[ citation needed ] Mei Yuan is also located in Lake Tai,along with Yuantouzhu. Yuantouzhu received its name ("Turtle Head Isle") from the shape of its outline.
The "Star of Lake Tai" is a giant,115-meter (377 ft) ferris wheel on the shore of the lake. [5] Completed in 2008,it takes 18 minutes to complete one revolution. Passengers can enjoy the scenery of Lake Tai and the city center. At night,lighting effects are switched on around the wheel.
The lake is known for its productive fishing industry and is often covered by fleets of small private fishing boats. [6] Since the late 1970s,harvesting food products such as fish and crabs has been invaluable to people living along the lake and has contributed significantly to the economy of the surrounding area.
The lake is home to an extensive ceramic industry,including the Yixing pottery factory,which produces Yixing clay teapots.
Pollution of the lake has been ongoing for decades despite efforts to reduce pollution that were not sustained and thus proved ineffective. In the 1980s and 1990s,the number of industries in the lake region tripled,and the population also increased significantly. One billion tons of wastewater,450,000 tons of garbage,and 880,000 tons of animal waste were dumped into the shallow lake in 1993 alone. The central government intervened and initiated a campaign to clean up the lake,setting a deadline to comply with pollution standards. When the deadline was not met,128 factories were closed on New Year's Eve in 1999. Compliance improved somewhat afterwards,but the pollution problem remained severe. [7]
In May 2007,the lake was overtaken by a major algae bloom and by major pollution with cyanobacteria. [8] The Chinese government called the lake a major natural disaster despite the anthropogenic origin of this environmental catastrophe. With the average price of bottled water rising to six times the normal rate,the government banned all regional water providers from implementing price hikes. [9] (The lake provides water to 30 million residents,including about one million in Wuxi. [10] ) By October 2007,it was reported that the Chinese government had shut down or given notice to over 1,300 factories around the lake. Nonetheless,Wu Lihong,one of the leading environmentalists who had been publicizing pollution of the lake,was sentenced to three years in prison for alleged extortion of one of the polluters, [8] but,undeterred,alleged in 2010 that not a single factory was closed. [11]
Jiangsu province planned to clean the lake; [12] chaired by then prime minister Wen Jiabao,the State Council set a target to complete the task by 2012. [13] However,in 2010 The Economist reported that pollution had broken out again and that Wu Lihong,released from prison that April,was claiming that the government was trying to suppress news of the outbreak while switching to other supplies in place of lake water. [14]
Yangtze or Yangzi is the longest river in Eurasia,the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows 6,300 km (3,915 mi) in a generally easterly direction to the East China Sea. It is the fifth-largest primary river by discharge volume in the world. Its drainage basin comprises one-fifth of the land area of China,and is home to nearly one-third of the country's population.
Suzhou,alternately romanized as Soochow,is a major prefecture-level city in Jiangsu province,China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis,it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce.
Dongting Lake is a large,shallow lake in northeastern Hunan Province,China. It is a flood basin of the Yangtze River,so its volume depends on the season. The provinces of Hubei and Hunan are named after their location relative to the lake:Hubei means "North of the Lake" and Hunan,"South of the Lake".
Wuxi is a city in southern Jiangsu province,eastern China. As of the 2020 census,the city had a total population of 7,462,135 inhabitants.
Poyang Lake,also known by its Chinese name as Poyang Hu,is the largest freshwater lake in China. Located within Jiujiang Prefecture in Jiangxi Province,it is fed by the Gan,Xin,and Xiu rivers and flows northward into the Yangtze River through a channel.
Jiangnan is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River,including the southern part of its delta. The region encompasses the city of Shanghai,the southern part of Jiangsu Province,the southeastern part of Anhui Province,the northern part of Jiangxi Province and the northern part of Zhejiang Province. The most important cities in the area include Anqing,Changzhou,Hangzhou,Nanjing,Ningbo,Shaoxing,Suzhou,Wuxi,Wenzhou,Yangzhou and Zhenjiang.
Yangcheng Lake is a freshwater lake about 3 km (1.9 mi) northeast of the city of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province,and ranges in depth from 1.5–2 m. The lake is 17 kilometers (11 mi) long from north to south,with an average width of 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) from east to west. It is the most famous area of origin for the Chinese mitten crab,which is considered a delicacy.
The Yangtze Plain is made up of a series of alluvial plains along the Yangtze River and its major tributaries.
Taihu may refer to the following in China:
Port of Suzhou is the collective name of three ports around the city of Suzhou,Jiangsu Province,China. The three ports are located in Zhangjiagang,Changshu and Taicang,respectively,on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The total cargo throughput of 454 million tons in 2013. As of 2013,it is the busiest inland river port in the world by annual cargo tonnage and container volume,as well as the sixth-busiest port by annual cargo tonnage. The majority of the port trade is in coal,ore,steel,and construction materials such as cement.
Wu Lihong is an environmental activist of the People's Republic of China. In August 2007,Wu was sentenced to prison by a local court in retribution for a 10-year crusade against pollution in Lake Tai. Ironically,the lake has been suffering from a "pond scum" outbreak since May,verifying Wu's claims that the government and big business were polluting and endangering the ecology of a water system that provides water for over 2 million people.
Suzhou Creek,also called the Wusong (Woosung) River,is a river that passes through the Shanghai city center. It is named after the neighboring city of Suzhou (Soochow),Jiangsu,the predominant settlement in this area prior to the rise of Shanghai as a metropolis.
Taihu Wu (吳語太湖片) or Northern Wu (北部吳語) is a Wu Chinese language spoken in much of the southern part of the province of Jiangsu,including Suzhou,Wuxi,Changzhou,the southern part of Nantong,Jingjiang and Danyang;the municipality of Shanghai;and the northern part of Zhejiang province,including Hangzhou,Shaoxing,Ningbo,Huzhou,and Jiaxing. A notable exception is the dialect of the town of Jinxiang,which is a linguistic exclave of Taihu Wu in Zhenan Min-speaking Cangnan county of Wenzhou prefecture in Zhejiang province. Speakers in regions around Taihu Lake and Hangzhou Bay,are the largest population among all Wu speakers. Taihu Wu dialects such as Shanghainese,Shaoxing and Ningbo are mutually intelligible even for L2 Taihu speakers.
Xishan Island is an island in Lake Tai administered as part of Taihu County,Suzhou,
Taihu stone or porous stone is a kind of limestone produced at the foot of Dongting Mountain (洞庭山) in Suzhou,which is close to Lake Tai. Due to long-term surging by water,this kind of stone features pores and holes.
Taihu Bridge is a bridge located in Suzhou,Jiangsu,linking Xukou and Xishan Island in the Lake Tai,with a total length of 4,308 meters. The construction began on October 27,1992 and finished on October 25,1994. The total cost of this bridge is over 100 million yuan at that time,raised by Wu County. Due to rapid development of tourism,the bridge has been increasingly overcrowded. The municipal government of Suzhou has decided to build a new bridge parallel to this one.
The Five Lakes or Wu Hu,is a Chinese historical and geographical concept that has been used to describe various lakes in China.
The Yangtze finless porpoise is a species of toothed whale in the family Phocoenidae,the porpoise family. It is endemic to the Yangtze River in China,making it the country's only known freshwater cetacean following the possible extinction of the baiji,a freshwater dolphin also native to the Yangtze. The Yangtze finless porpoise is considered endangered and it is estimated that only about 1,000 remain. This small toothed whale faces many of the same threats as the baiji:High human activity on the Yangtze,such as illegal fishing,pollution,boat traffic,and dam construction. Due to the rapidly declining population of the species,the Chinese government and conservation charities are working to help save it from extinction.
Taihu Reservoir,also spelled as Tai-Hu Reservoir,formerly known as Huanglong Reservoir,is a reservoir located in Jinhu Township,Kinmen County,Taiwan. It is one of the main water sources of Kinmen. And the "Lake Tai" formed by the Reservoir is the largest artificial freshwater lake in Kinmen.