East Lake (Wuhan)

The lake was cut off from the Yangtze River in 1957. Water quality has deteriorated since because of 180,000 tons discharge of wastewater (domestic sewage and industrial) into the lake per day. Each year, about 441 tons of nitrogen and 40 tons of phosphorus flow into the lake. Most parts of the lake have been assessed as eutrophicated, unsuitable for drinking and many recreational purposes. ==Notable sites around the lake==

In clockwise order, starting from the southwest corner: • Liyuan Park - a large urban park on the west side of the lake, with a popular free swimming area • Hubei Provincial Museum • Hubei Art Museum; the two museums are across the street from each other, just a block from the main entrance to Liyuan Park • Wuhan Donghu Ocean Aquarium, proud of its flock of penguins • Wuhan Railway Station - a few km northeast of the lake • Moshan (, "Millstone Mountain") Scenic Area, including East Lake Cherry Blossom Park • The "Chu Castle" (楚城) • Wuhan Botanical Garden • East Lake Cherry Blossom Park • China University of Geosciences, Wuhan Campus • "Ba Yi" ("First of August") open-air swimming pool • Houshan (Monkey Mountain) but no monkeys. One must travel to nearby Forest Park to see live monkeys, some un-caged. • Wuhan University main campus • Mao Zedong Memorial Residence: The former residence of Mao Zedong, where he stayed 48 times. It is also known as "Mao Zedong's Other Hometown" by locals. • Qu Yuan Memorial Hall: A tower dedicated to Quyuan along with a statue of him. Several causeways cross the eastern part of the lake, providing access to recreational fishing sites and beaches. In 2012, the construction of a major 6-lane road under the lake (Donghu Tongdao) was started. The Donghu Lake tunnel, China's longest tunnel under a lake, was opened to traffic at the end of 2015. A car could run through the 10.6-kilometer-long tunnel in around 15 minutes. In 2010, plans for extensive new development on the lake shores caused widespread criticism among the citizenry. ==Image gallery==

File:Wuhan Chu town.jpg|In the Chu Castle File:Wuhan-Donghu-dike-0375.jpg|On one of the causeways File:Wuhan Donghu lotuses 4155.jpg|A lotus pond near the botanical garden - the lotus seed ripening season File:Txu-oclc-10552568-nh50-5.jpg|Map including East Lake (labeled as Kuo-cheng Hu ) in 1953 (not to be confused with the East Lake in Dongxihu District) ==Fishing==

The East Lake has long been used by local fishermen. According to the 1977 statistics, the annual fish yield of the 1500-hectare fishing area of the lake ("The East lake Fish Farm") was 450 kg/ha. ==References==