Lijiang steps up treating, protecting Lugu Lake

Situated on the border of Sichuang and Yunnan provinces, the Lugu lake is a cross-provincial lake, whose water quality ranks at National Level 1. The lake is like a beautiful pearl shining among the hills in northwest Yunnan.

Mystery and charm surround the lake, partly because it was once an unspoiled place and still retains much of its totally natural beauty, but mostly because the Mosuo people who live there form a matriarchal society. There is no marriage. Women operate production and management, and they hold the principal position in the society, forming a modern yet mysterious kingdom of women.

The lake is encircled with hills. The water is clean and inviting, with fish swimming in it. The forest around is dense and the air is fresh. This is a place that is little tainted by modern industry -- the natural beauty is retained. Although tourism brings much of the income for local people, the environment was partly polluted by human activities in the past few years.

To protect the ecological environment of Lugu Lake, City of Lijiang has, in recent years, reinforced a series of measures with full efforts, such as construction of lake-side belts’ ecosystem, restoration of ecological wetlands, treatment of waterways entering lake and so forth. These measures made it effective to conserve the lake environment.

Source: Xinhua; Trans-editing by Mo Yingyi