Located 8 kilometers south of Liyang City (lì yáng shì 溧阳市) in Jiangsu Province (jiāng sū shěng 江苏省), Tianmu Lake (tiān mù hú 天目湖) has a vast extent of over 300 square kilometers. Tianmu Lake reputed as the “pearl on the south area of the Yangtze River”(jiāng nán míng zhū 江南明珠) and “Green Fairyland”(lǜ sè xiān jìng 绿色仙境). It resembles a pair of limpid eyes of a young lady, thus got the name “Tianmu Lake”. Embracing with rich tourism resources, Tinamu Lake Tourist Resort now gets two AAAA core areas, which are Tianmu Lake Natural Scenery (tiān mù hú shān shuǐ yuán jǐng qū 天目湖山水园景区), South Mountain Bamboo Ocean (nán shān zhú hǎi jǐng qū 南山竹海景区).

Tianmu Lake Natural Scenery
As the core scenic area in Tianmu Lake Tourist Resort, Natural Scenery is the essence of the Tianmu Lake. The water in the lake is pure clean and sweet, and surrounded by low rolling hills. The most famous attractions here are the Hill Peninsula of Tianmu Lake (hú lǐ shān 湖里山), Zhuangyuan Pavilion (zhuàng yuán gé 状元阁), China Ape Hall (zhōng huá shǔ yuán guǎn 中华曙猿馆), and No. 1 Pot (tiān xià dì yī hú 天下第一壶).

Zhuangyuan Pavilion is on the top the Hill Peninsula of Tianmu Lake, covers an area of 350 square meters, with a height of 22 meters. It is the only construction of Zhuangyuan culture (zhuàng yuán wén huà 状元文化) in China. China Ape Hall describes the history of ancient civilization. The No. 1 Pot is the biggest dark-red enameled pot of the world. It is 3.5 meters in height with a diameter of 1.8 meters.

South Mountain Bamboo Ocean
The Bamboo Ocean is located at the junction of Jiangsu, Zhejiangèā and Anhui provincesāī. There are hundreds of thousands green bamboos. Mountains and hills are covered with green plants. Based on the advantage of natural ecological resources, South Mountain scenic spot successful developed bamboo culture and longevity culture. The most famous attractions here are Jinghu Lake (jìng hú 静湖), Bamboo Culture Museum (zhú wén huà bó wù guǎn 竹文化博物馆), the God of Longevity in South Mountain (nán shān shòu wēng 南山寿翁) so on and so forth.

Tianmu Lake is a combination of cultural riches and ravishing natural scenery. The tourists will not impressed with the picturesque natural beauty of its lake and mountain, but also the three unique products of the Tianmu Lake which are the sweet water, tasty tea, and delicious fish head.

Tianmu Lake Tourist Resort
Location: Tianmu Lake Town (tiān mù hú zhèn 天目湖镇), Liyang City, Changzhou (cháng zhōu 常州), Jiangsu
Opening hours: all day
Admission fee: RMB 65 for Tianmu Lake Natural Scenery
                       RMB 50 for South Mountain Bamboo Ocean 
                       RMB 45 for renting a boat
Tel: 0519-7980495
Transportation: you can take a bus from Changzhou Long Distance Bus Station (cháng zhōu cháng tú qì chē zhàn 常州长途汽车站); in Liyang City, take a Bus No. 9, directly to the lake.
Tips: The best time to visit Tianmu Lake is from May to October.