Lake Taihu
Lake Taihu (Tai Lake) is a large lake in the Yangtze Delta plain, on the border of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. It has an area of 2,420 square kilometers with the lake coastline of 400 kilometers long, and an average depth of 2 meters. It is the third largest freshwater lake in China, after Poyang and Dongting. The lake houses about 90 islands, ranging in size from a few square meters to several square miles. The lake is also the origin for a number of rivers, including Suzhou Creek. Lake Taihu is the most famous source for the 'stones of longevity' used for Chinese garden construction. The limestone in Lake Taihu is lapped by the waves and the rock has eroded into fantastic shapes.

The best place to view beautiful Lake Taihu is on the Turtle Head Islet in Wuxi. Turtle Head Islet is an islet stretching into the lake, whose shape is really like the head of a turtle protruding from the water. Lake Taihu and the surrounding magnificence will bewitch your eyes when you climb onto Turtle Head. When the soft breezes blow, waves roll and the hills in the distance look like an overlapping landscape painting. The scene is really captivating. Turtle Head Islet Park is mainly made of the natural landscape, augmented by manmade additions. Flowers and trees can be seen everywhere. Various kinds of architecture are strategically placed among the trees and shrubs. All conspire to make the park graceful and elegant.

Besides the natural scenery of Lake Taihu, there are many ruins of historic sites, such as the Grand Canal of the Sui Dynasty (581-618), the islets in the lake along with the coastal places in the east, the north and the west both of which are the cradle land of the culture of Wuyue (this culture touches on traditions that flow from or refer to Jiangsu, Zhejiang and the southeast part of Anhui today) and so on.

Boating on the Lake Taihu is a tourist special feast in Wuxi. On the endless expanse of blue water, sometimes, the waves roll upon waves, sometimes it becomes quiet like a mirror glittering on the lake with the 72 peaks dimly visible afar riding the waves ups and downs. They make the green hills and clear waters of the Lake Taihu look as attractive and beautiful as a piece of picturesque scenery with waves rolling upon waves and hills overlapping on one another. It is indeed a scene majestic in all its variety.

Lake Hongze
Lake Hongze is located between 33°06′-33°40′ N in latitude, 118°10′-119°00′ E in longitude, and is the fourth largest freshwater lake in China. The lake’s northwest shore is the provincial border of Jiangsu and Anhui, and the rest are surrounded by two of Jiangsu’s cities, Suqian and Huai’an. Its water supply is mainly from the Huai River and discharges mostly through Sanhe River and Lake Gaoyou into the Yangtze River. The rest of the water discharges into the East China Sea through the Northern Jiangsu Main Irrigation Canal. The average water depth of Hongze Lake is 1.77 meters, with the deepest part being 4.37 meters.

The lake was much smaller than its present size in the 11th century because it was enlarged four times (around 1,960 square kilometers) when the Yellow River changed its course, forcing its water into the Huaihe River, and together the water of the two rivers pooled up into the lake. After the Yellow River changed back to its regular course in1897, the Huaihe River continued pooling up into Lake Hongze. The Hongze Levee is a well-known artificial levee erected more than 400 years ago. The levee is 70 kilometers in length and is a critical levee to prevent flooding. The levee offers a beautiful landscape and many tourist attractive sites have been established along the levee, such as an artificial beach and many other entertainment facilities.

Lake Hongze is a good place for nature lovers. By renting a boat, visitors can cruise on the lake with their friends and family.

Lake Gaoyou
Lake Gaoyou is the third largest lake in Jiangsu and the sixth largest freshwater lake in China. It is situated at the border between two provinces, Jiangsu and Anhui. Gaoyou City, a jurisdiction of Yangzhou, is on the east of the lake. The lake covers an area of 674 square kilometers (260 square miles). In a sense Lake Gaoyou is a manmade lake, and its creation is part of a long story about flood control and hydraulic engineering in ancient China. Lake Gaoyou is now part of the Huai River system as the Huai River flows south through Lake Gaoyou on its way to the Yangtze River and the Pacific. Historically, the Huai River had flowed directly into the Yellow Sea by cutting through northern Jiangsu. Starting in 1194 AD, the Yellow River, some 300 kilometers to the north, changed course several times to merge into the Huai River. At least two of these course changes were brought on during wars, where one army would rupture the dikes in order to drown an opposing army.

The waters of the Yellow River were so heavy and silt-laden that they quickly filled the nearly flat Huai River channel resulting in frequent floods. To make matters worse, the floods covered the fertile farmlands with gravel and clay, ruining them for generations. Chinese engineers undertook a major project to raise the elevation of the Huai River in hopes that increased water velocity would keep the Yellow River silt suspended until it reached the sea. They did this by building a system of dikes and creating Huai Lake, which grew larger over the years as the dikes were raised to try to control flooding. Around 1600 AD, flooding of the Yellow River caused several smaller lakes to merge thus creating Lake Gaoyou. In 1855, more flooding proved too much for the old Huai River path and the river’s course changed to run south, through Lake Gaoyou to the Yangtze.

The elevation of the lake bottom is 3.3–4.4 meters and the elevation of the plains to the east is one to 2.5 meters lower. Lake Gaoyou was formed in 1600 AD after the Yellow River flooding caused several smaller lakes to merge. However, starting from 1194 AD, the Yellow River further to the north changed its course several times, running into the Huai River in north Jiangsu each time instead of its other usual path northwards into Bohai Bay. The silting caused by the Yellow River was so heavy that after its last episode of "hijacking" the Huai River ended in 1855, the Huai River was no longer able to go through its usual path into the sea. Instead it flooded, pooled up (thereby forming and enlarging Lake Hongze and Lake Gaoyou), and flowed southwards through the Grand Canal into the Yangtze. The Xinmin floodplain south Gaoyou Lake is the outlet of Lake Gaoyou where the Huai River continues south to meet the Yangtze at Yangzhou. The floodplain is a dry open expanse devoid of any buildings for its 4.5 mile width, which is quite a change from the rest of the area. During the summer rainy season much of the area floods. The road is well built to withstand the yearly submersions. In the winter, wheat and other crops are grown here.

There are a plenty of aquatic products produced by the lake, including crabs, shrimps and tortoises. Now, a tourist route, titled "Water-view Tour of Lake Gaoyou" is providing an excellent opportunity for tourists to see its beauty. You can rent a boat and cruise around with your family or friends. The lake has a huge area of the wetland and it has been listed in a prestigious protection project by the State Forestry Administration in 2004.

Lake Luoma
Situated in the northwest of Suqian in Jiangsu, Lake Luoma ranks among the four largest freshwater lakes of Jiangsu. It covers a total area of 375 square kilometers (145 square miles), dotted by several natural scenic spots and historical sites. Lake Luoma is also connected to the Grand Canal.

Lake Luoma together with its surrounding area is a great place for travelers to visit and it is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Suqian. It is said that the name of the lake was derived from its outline, resembling the shape of a horse’s backbone and some local people believed that supernatural power formed the lake.

Because of the consistent effort in environmental protection, the water quality and ecological condition of the lake remain well and the lake water is quite clean. The Lake Luoma Modern Eco-Agriculture Science and Tech Garden was established to monitor and maintain the water quality.

There are more than 50 different aquatic products harvested in Lake Luoma, which including whitebait, shrimp, and crab. Nowadays, the lake is attracting more visitors.

Lake Yangcheng
Yangcheng Lake crosses the boundary of the cities of Wuxian, Changshu and Kunshan and has a surface area of about 20 square kilometers. Lake Yangcheng is located between Lake Tai and the Yangtze River, in the northeast of Suzhou. Lake Yangcheng is a freshwater lake and has very clean water, the water quality is superb and it has more than 70 aquatic products. The most famous one is Yangcheng hairy crab, or “Yangcheng Da Zha Xie” in Chinese. This huge crab is far better than from other places in meat and taste, and is is reputed as "King Crab.” The ordinary one weighs around half a catty, while the bigger one around 0.7 to 0.8 catty. It is renowned for its tender meat, rich nutrition, fat ovary and digestive glands and dainty taste at home and abroad. The female crab grows fatter in September with rich ovary and digestive glands, while the male grows fatter in October.

The clear water and abundant insects and grasses in Lake Yangcheng provide an excellent environment for the hairy crabs. Crab is a kind of migration fish. It stays in freshwater lakes before September. About a fortnight after the crabs cast their shells in September comes the mating and spawning season. At this time, they crawl eastward to the juncture of the Yangtze River and the sea, thus making an annual crabbing season. The waterways in Kunshan east of Lake Yangcheng are the only path for these migrating crabs, so the place there becomes the main crabbing area. Each year during the period of September and October, fishermen go there crabbing with nets, fishing grates, baskets, and even bamboo poles, making a scene bustling with excitement.

Another interesting historical thing about Lake Yangcheng is that it was involved in a story of the traditional Peking Opera, “Sha Jia Bang”, where the creek is the birthplace for the legend. This was a legendary tale and was edited into the opera during the Cultural Revolution period. Due to the lack of sources of entertainments in that period of time, the opera became so famous that everybody watched it many times.

Lake Tianmu
Lake Tianmu is located eight kilometers to the south of Liyang City, 100 kilometers from Changzhou in Jiangsu, where Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui Province meet. Seen from the above, the lake resembles a pair of limpid eyes. Thus, the lake has been given the name "Tianmu Lake" (lake of heavenly eyes). Because of the two large national reservoirs in the area, the lake is admired as the "bright pearl to the south of the Yangtze River.” It is at the end of Tianmu Mountain range, hence the name. Lake Tianmu Tourism and Vacation Zone was approved as a provincial Tourism and Vacation Zone in July 1992, and it is also honored as a national 4-AAAA tourist attraction. In recent years, the lake has been developed into a tourist attraction composed of six functional areas: tourism center, leisure vacation, forest park, agricultural culture, environmental protection, and entertainment on water, which has great appeal to tourists.

Lake Tianmu is surrounded by rolling hills and covered with clear water. The chessboard-like paddy fields and the scattered tea plantations have combined to present a picture of natural rural scenery. The lakeside winds its way far into the lake in which many islands, large and small, can be seen. Boating on the lake therefore gives one a unique experience by a natural and human combination: old trees, colorful flowers, wild animals including wild boars, hares, pheasants and wild ducks, and people are living together harmoniously.

Yangshan Natural Park is to the west of the lake center, covering an area of 300 mu. In the park, there are nearly 100 macaques and 100 mu of tea plantation. The two main islands in the park are connected by the Rainbow Bridge and the Swaying Bridge. Amusement World is a wonderful place for leisure and entertainment. Farm tools, with characteristics of the south Yangtze River, are displayed such as a grind and waterwheel. Hulishan Park is the first theme park built in the zone.

In addition, the three unique products of Tianmu Lake are the sweet water, tasty tea, and delicious fish head. Since the government pays great attention to environmental protection, the Tianmu Lake Scenic Area is well preserved without any pollution and its water keeps its purity and has mineral components from natural springs. According to statistics from the environmental department of Jiangsu Province, the lake water is better than the national second-level drinking water. The pure water and rich fish food feed various freshwater fish such as cod (Gadus morhua). The flesh of the cod is as soft as bean curd and very delicious.

Zhenjiang Slender West Lake (Shouxihu)
Slender West Lake is listed as a key scenic area possessing important history and cultural heritage with botanical gardens of special characteristics. It is located in the west suburb of Yangzhou, Jiangsu. The lake was originally a natural river course leading to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal during the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) periods. It is famous for its scenic splendor since those times.

Presently, Slender West Lake is comprised of 24 scenic areas such as the imperial wharf, Xi Yuan, Yechun Garden, the Lvyang Village, the volume stone dwelling Buddhist immortals, the Xi Yuan Qushui, four bridge misty rain, Hongqiao, Spring Willows along the Long Causeway, Ye Yuan, Xuyuan Garden, Changchun range, the Musical instrument room, Muxi reading room, the chess room, the month view, Mei Ling deep spring, the thatched house on the lake, the shady hall, Chuitai Terrace, the water cloud beautiful scenery, the lotus temple, Niao village, Five-Pavilion Bridge and White Pagoda.

Narrow in shape, the lake is like a tall and slender beauty in comparison with West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. Its beauty lies in the meandering lake and simple and unsophisticated construction. It is 4.3 kilometers in total length with an area of over 30 hectares. The main sights on it include Spring Willows along the Long Causeway, Xuyuan Garden, Chuitai Terrace, Five-Pavilion Bridge and White Pagoda.

The lake is typical of Chinese water-based garden art, combining the grace and elegance of the south with the grandeur and magnificence of the north.