Lifting the Veil of the Isolated Dongting Island

Tasting wild fish, picking vitex seeds, cycling, and rolling on silvery sand beaches. On October 5th, Li Liang, a tourist from Changsha, enjoyed a relaxing trip on Qingshan Island together with his family.

Qingshan Island, the only fully isolated island in Dongting Lake, lifted its mysterious veil during the National Day golden week. Liu Jiexiong, Party Secretary of Qingtan Township, told reporters that the island received nearly 5,000 tourists from Hunan Province in the first five days of the holiday, among whom outdoor sports enthusiasts made up over 60 percent.

Qingshan Island is a natural solitary islet in South Dongting Lake and a key patriotic education base of our county, 20 kilometres away from the county seat. It has a land area of 11.2 square kilometres and an inner lake covering 6,000 mu, with a permanent population of more than 1,600 residents.

According to legend, the naval troops of Yang Yao’s uprising in the Southern Song Dynasty once garrisoned here. During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Japanese invaders raided Qingshan Island three times and committed the Qingshan Massacre. Located right in the heart of Dongting Lake with inconvenient transportation, the island remained little-known to the outside world. Nevertheless, its rich mysteries have attracted numerous outdoor lovers in search of unspoiled wilderness fun.

To welcome the National Day tourist peak, the township renovated three direct ferry boats, dredged the waterway leading to the island, and put up scenic signposts. Township cadres formed a tourist service team, and more than 40 farm stay inns were opened on the island.