Located about 10 kilometers to the north of Huairou District,Beijingis a comprehensive recreation place integrating sightseeing, vacation spending, and physical exercises. One can get toYanqiLakeby
111 National Road
or Shatong Railway. It used to be called North Taishang Reservoir. In 1985, the Beijing Tourism Planning Department decided to develop it to be a tourist site. As the water of the reservoir comes fromYanqiRiver, and there are large crowds of wild geese taking a rest here both in the spring and in the autumn. In 1987, it was formally opened to receive visitors.YanqiLakeis surrounded by mountains in three directions with Mutianyu Great Wall in the north,HongluoTemplein the west, and North China Plains in the south.YanqiLakehas an abundant water source and a spacious water surface. The acreage of its stream is 127 square kilometers. The lake holds 3,830 cubic meters of water, and the water surface area covers 230 hectares. The lakeshore line stretches about 20 kilometers with the deepest place at about 25 meters. The water comes from the Lotus Spring and the Shentangyu Stream in its upper reaches.
Currently, there are more than 50 recreational activities and sports in the park. The aquatic items include a large passenger ship, dragon boats, barges, speedboats, water-scooters, para-gliding, boat-racing, rowboats, and pedal-boats. The land items include playing in rip currents, roller coasters, super spaceships, war chariots, race cars, rocket-style bungee, “the flyer,” diving, a sheave pulley on the high mountains, rock climbing, archery, and mini-drifting. The forests on theJintengMountainbeside the lake are exuberant with winding paths. The footpaths lead to the pavilions on the summit overlooking the lake. By climbing there, the tourists can not only partake in physical exercise, they can also return to nature, and appreciate the whole view of the lake. The tourists can go past the 560-meter-long floating bridge to the scenic area on the west bank of the lake, stroll around on the forest paths, breathe the fresh air full of negative oxygen ions, and enjoy a leisurely stroll in the delightful, natural forests.
