The first China International Lake Forum will be held near the Thousand-Island Lake in Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province.

Taiwan's famous scenic spot, the Sun Moon Lake will join the forum in which experts will discuss the lake resource operating experiences and its development trend.

Hundreds of experts and lake resource managing personnel will participate in the forum. They hope to establish the China lake league during the forum and find ways to make the lake turn into a resource for leisure and vacation purposes from the current sight-seeing resource.

According to Hong Kong-base Ta Kung Pao, travels from the mainland to Taiwan are currently not as hot as expected. However, tourist institutions in Taiwan show great interest to the mainland market.

China has more than 2,800 lakes with an area of over one square kilometer, 300 of them have been exploited as tourist resources.

Many lakes have become well-known tourist sites like the West Lake in Hangzhou, the Qinghai Lake in northwest China, the Tianchi in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Thousand Island Lake in Hangzhou and the Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan.

(Chiannews.cn August 26, 2005)