Poyang Nature Reserve

Dislaimer: this Tentative WHS is ancient - hasn't been modified since 1996 and the data in their description is from the mid-80s. The main attraction of the lake, or rather Nature Reserve, are the migratory birds. They come in early December and stay until February. Well, this December there weren't really many to see. I am unsure they still come here. Yes, sure, maybe I came too early to judge but then I suppose the place is still not a good visit ANYTIME apart from January and February as you can read soon.

For starters the lake has been shrinking over the years. It could still lose the status of largest freshwater lake in China to Lake Tai. On a side note, the massive Qinghai Lake is not freshwater and the larger Xingkai Lake is shared with Russia so it "doesn't count" for the stats. Secondly, and I cannot confirm this, there are many labor camps around the lake. If true that would obviously be a bummer for WHS status. Even if it's not true, houses have been built around the lake that encroachment is a big issue now.

To visit the lake you have many options but the free ones would get you nothing. There is a famous bridge, for example, that you can drive through during wet season - cool? Maybe. I selected to visit the National Wetland Park - surely it would be the best bet! To get here you can take a bus to …