How to get to Hengshui Lake?

Hengshui Lake is located in Hengshui City, Hebei Province. It is about 20 kilometers long from north to south and about 3 kilometers wide at its east-west point. It borders Hengshui City to the north and Jizhou City to the south. National Highway 106 passes through the east bank of Hengshui Lake, 300 kilometers away from Beijing, with convenient transportation and good road conditions. Because the main industry of the surrounding counties and cities is agriculture, there is basically no pollution from heavy industry. Large-scale tourism development plans have been at a semi-standstill due to financial constraints, so the environment has not been seriously affected. The water quality of Hengshui Lake is better, with a transparency of about 2-3 meters (visual inspection). However, parts of the water near the shore are affected by domestic sewage and are not suitable for drinking.

From the Yuquanying Overpass in Beijing to the south along the Beijing Expressway to Gu'an, Hebei, the section is an expressway. The toll for a small passenger car is 20 yuan for the entire journey. All roads in Hebei are national highways and need to pass through 4-5 toll stations. Small cars charge 10 yuan per station (16-seat passenger cars charge 15 yuan - ask the toll collector). The road condition is very good, but when driving at night, it is seriously affected by the lights of the opposite truck (Hebei truck drivers do not have the habit of turning off the high beam). Passing through Hejian City, you can stop and have a rest to taste authentic Hejian donkey meat (there are 24-hour restaurants on the side of the national highway. We ate at two restaurants back and forth, and they both tasted good). Donkey meat is highly recommended (experience of eating donkey meat in Beijing) ——Donkey meat should be fat, lean and stringy) and donkey intestines—both are 20 yuan/jin (it seems to be a unified price, and I didn’t ask about cheaper ones).

The total time required for the whole journey: about 5 hours at night and about 4 hours during the day. You can see the lake about 20 kilometers after passing through the urban area of ??Hengshui. Not far away, there is the gate of the cruise ship terminal on the roadside - there is an obvious billboard. Enter the gate and walk along the road, passing several fish pits for tourists to fish (5 yuan/pole*day, most anglers catch small crucian carp, and the author also found that some lucky ones had carp weighing more than 2 pounds in the fish guard) You can reach the pier and there are plenty of parking spaces. After asking the dock manager Lao Pan and manager Lao Li, they can camp in the parking lot for free at night and provide drinking water (of course you have to take their cruise ship). All cruise ships are battery boats and can accommodate 8 people. Prices vary slightly depending on the destination. The lowest price for a trip to a fishing village is about 80 yuan/boat (may be adjusted accordingly depending on the number of tourists).

There are guest houses and hotels in Jizhou and Hengshui, but this exploration is based on camping, and the ideal campsite has been found, so there is no inquiry. There are also inns open to tourists in the fishing village, but after only asking about one - a standard room costs more than 200 yuan - I lost interest in continuing to look. There are several restaurants in the fishing village along the shore of Hengshui Lake - they mainly provide "whole fish feast", which is relatively expensive (there are three people on this trip, bring your own drinks, a lunch costs 80 yuan - if you consider drinking local drinks - it is expected to be 30-40 yuan/person), but the taste is really good. Solemn reminder: Some local restaurants have prepared two menus! Let them take it all out and pay according to the lowest price! In addition, locals catch large quantities of "water scorpions" - the larvae of dragonflies. Fried "water scorpions" are a "famous dish" in local restaurants. This is a major reason for the rampant mosquitoes in the area near the lake - buying and eating them is strongly discouraged!

To get to the fishing village, you can take a boat directly from the cruise ship pier, or you can drive along Dachuan - the scenery is good (the starting point of Dachuan is on the north side of a gas station on the side of the national road), but the vehicles are battered . There is also a small road that can be passed from Jizhou, which also requires a bumpy road section. Residents of the fishing village basically make a living by fishing, and they can also rent fishing boats to go sightseeing in the lake - the cost of this exploration is 10 yuan per person (it takes about 1 hour to go around the reed marsh). The fishery management of Hengshui Lake is lax, so local fishermen basically use illegal fishing methods such as sticky nets (death traps for loons), ground cages (extreme nets - catching all big fish and small shrimps in one catch), and electrofishing. Even so, according to our observations, the catch is very small - indicating that the fishery resources in Hengshui Lake are rapidly depleting!

The parking lot of the cruise ship terminal is right by the lake, and the ground is flat (soil ground, convenient for nailing). Slightly to the north, there is an illegal building that has been stopped - the Pier Maze. It has five floors (the highest point in the surrounding area), but there are no stairs or steps to go up and down - you can only climb the wall - those with a fear of heights should consider carefully. (The author’s left leg cramped after coming down from the second floor!).

One major drawback to camping near a lake – mosquitoes! It's not just normal - it can bite people even through thick socks! There was a man who was fishing, and there was a layer of mosquitoes on his back. He hit it with a towel - 5 or 6 of them! Therefore, mosquito prevention is very important - but the specific measures are sometimes amateurish - thanks to the temperature this time - there are no mosquitoes at night.

It’s impossible not to taste Hengshui Laobaigan when you arrive in Hengshui - Lao Pan recommends the Baigan Wholesale Department opposite the pier on National Highway 106 for authenticity. I tried the 43-degree wine that the locals often drink - it is soft in the mouth and has a sweet aftertaste - it is not generally delicious. This caused the author to get drunk that night - which delayed the plans for the next day. Jizhou City is not far from Zhaozhou. I originally planned to set out early the next morning to walk around the Zhaozhou Bridge and visit the Berlin Temple - 7954! We didn't set off until noon on Sunday - we returned along the original route and ate donkey meat in the river again, so we didn't go back in vain.