Qiandao Lake — Asian Games location finds new life

The Qiandaohu Station in Zhejiang province is named after Qiandao Lake, or "Thousand Island Lake", which has long been a popular tourist destination for those seeking a tranquil and peaceful vacation. However, after hosting a sports event, it was injected with a "sporting gene".

It can be challenging to repurpose venues after major sporting events, yet at the heart of Qiandao Lake, the Hangzhou Asian Games have led to a sustainable solution.

The former Asian Games Cycling Village, a 48-kilometer drive from Qiandaohu Station, has been transformed into an eco-tourism complex called Qiandao Lake Beautiful China Resort.

"The existing athletic facilities provided an excellent foundation with venues, cycling routes, hiking trails and more," says Wang Dan, marketing manager of the resort.

The project aims to create China's premier lakeside destination integrating sports, nature, entertainment and wellness, leveraging the Asian Games legacy infrastructure. "Our resort offers over 60 recreation facilities spanning 200 different activities," Wang adds.

Wang highlights the resort's strong sports and outdoor DNA. "Our most popular activities leverage the area's natural scenery — cycling along the lake's ring roads, hiking the scenic island trails and exploring abundant islands."

For tourists, the traditional experience here is still visiting the lake, which features over 1,000 islands of various sizes and shapes, says Wang. "Despite adding more novel events, this year we've developed a maze trail, providing a unique island maze view quite different from the lake's typical vantage points."

For now, the resort is mainly drawing regional visitors, with around 70 percent coming from Yangtze River Delta cities like Shanghai. "Some self-driving tourists liked it so much they said they'd take the high-speed rail next time for easier access," Wang adds.

Looking ahead, Wang shares their expansion plans: "We hope to develop a large-scale integrated destination resort. And the current settings only cover about a quarter of the over 667-hectare total planned area."

"We're also exploring local options like orange picking experiences, as well as caviar tastings," Wang adds.

In recent years, China has become the world's largest caviar exporter, with Qiandao Lake being one major pond for raising fish with Hangzhou Qiandaohu Xunlong Sci-tech Development Co as the main provider.

"We established our first Qiandao Lake aquaculture facility in 2003. The key reasons for selecting this location were the extraordinary water quality and the area's abundant forest coverage," says Zhang Shaofeng from the company's marketing department.

With a high rate of forest land, dissolved oxygen levels in the lake's waters are optimal and there is no need to utilize additional oxygenation equipment commonly required on fish farms, Zhang adds. "The lake environment closely mirrors the native habitat, ensuring our fish remain vigorous."

The caviar, harvested from river sturgeon, has been selected by numerous Michelinstar restaurants and served at international events such as the G20 Summit banquet in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

"Our 'Kaluga Queen' brand caviar has approximately 35 to 40 percent of the global market share," Zhang says.

From the first jar produced in 2006, Kaluga Queen caviar has gradually penetrated international markets. While the company's aquaculture output ranks first globally, Zhang says they have plans to expand into the tourism market.

"As Qiandao Lake is a popular tourism destination, we are exploring opportunities to expand our cultural and recreational offerings. We are considering organizing experiential activities for visitors at our aquaculture facilities," says Zhang.

Also part of the Zhejiang section of the loop line is the West Lake area, a highlight of China's landscape and cultural attractions for over a millennium. Beyond the lake's iconic arched bridges and pagodas lies the vast Xixi National Wetland Park teeming with diverse flora and fauna.