Hainan Travel Notes: The Pearl on the Mountain—Songtao Reservoir, China’s largest island lake

On the way from Danzhou City to Qiongzhong County, I was attracted by the signboard of Songtao Reservoir Scenic Area. After passing a country road, I arrived at this giant reservoir located among the mountains.

Songtao Reservoir is located in the upper reaches of the largest Henan Crossing River in Hainan, 20 kilometers southeast of Danzhou City, Hainan Province, spanning Danzhou and Baisha cities and counties. The reservoir has a water collection area of ​​1,440 square kilometers and a total storage capacity of 3.34 billion cubic meters. It is one of the top ten reservoirs in the country.

Because Hainan Island is the second largest island in China, no lake on an island can be as big as this. It can also be said that this is the largest lake on an island in China.

Let me just send you a video of our aerial photography so that you can see how beautiful it is here.

The Songtao Reservoir was built in 1956. At this time, Hainan Province was only 6 years after the liberation, and hundreds of industries were waiting to flourish. The Songtao Reservoir project was also built as the first phase of the development of Hainan Island. It was called the "first key". Premier Zhou Enlai I personally nominated Songtao Reservoir.

The construction of Songtao Reservoir started in July 1958 and was completed in June 1967. It took 9 years and was raised again in 1976. At this point, the largest water conservancy project in Hainan Province was officially put into use.

The main dam of the reservoir is a rolling-type homogeneous earth dam with a dam crest elevation of 197.1 meters and a maximum dam height of 80.1 meters. It is the highest earth dam built in Hainan Province. The verification can prevent the "biggest possible flood" and provide irrigation for more than one million acres of cultivated land in four counties and one city in the lower reaches of Hainan Province, making the irrigation area a treasure land that guarantees harvests despite droughts and floods in Hainan Province.

Because it happened to be the dry season, the two waterfalls upstream of the reservoir could not be visited, so we had to stay near the reservoir management station to cook and enjoy lunch amidst the real beauty of the mountains and clear waters.

The big head fish in the reservoir is said to be delicious, but we don't know where to buy it, so we had to use the existing ingredients of "Xiaowo" to cook, spicy fried rice cakes and braised flying fish. Personally, I think sea fish is more delicious.

After leaving Songtao Reservoir, we arrived at the county seat of Qiongzhong County. After parking at March 3rd Square, a family of three went out to look for food.

I chose the second-ranked local specialty restaurant on Dianping and tasted Hainan’s specialty black goat meat for the first time. I have always had a certain prejudice against mutton outside of the northwest. I always thought it would have a strong smell.

In fact, we saw a lot of black goats in the dense mountain forests along the way. Their liveliness and handsome figure left a deep impression on us. With such a large amount of activity, the meat must be delicious.

Braised black goat meat is 88 yuan per pound. It has both meat and skin, as well as internal organs such as lamb tripe and lamb loin. The meat is delicate and melts in your mouth. Even Brother Chen, who doesn’t eat much meat, ate a lot.

The 28 yuan cauliflower soup has a slightly bitter taste, which is very refreshing to eat in the slightly muggy weather. Both dishes are very good, and it feels like the trip is worthwhile.

We bought large longans, a local specialty, at the fruit market in Qiongzhong County. They are larger than the ones we usually buy in supermarkets. They are juicy, juicy and sweet. Because Brother Chen likes them very much, we bought 2.5 kilograms in one go for 30 yuan, which was slightly A bit expensive.

As its name suggests, Qiongzhong County is located in the central part of Hainan Province. Few tourists come here to visit, but here you can enjoy the tropical mountain scenery that is very different from the sea view, and the rich Li ethnic customs, which is worthy of our continued exploration.