On April 30th, I participated in the eco-environmental protection tour around Chaohu Lake organized by six units including Anhui Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League. I started from Hefei with 100 environmental protection volunteers and photographers from all walks of life in Anhui, walked along the west line of Chaohu Lake and passed through six towns and nine villages to enjoy the vast scenery of Chaohu Lake and talk about the ideas and strategies for protecting Chaohu Lake.

Chaohu Lake, named after its shape like a bird's nest, is one of the five largest freshwater lakes in China. Chaohu City, Anhui Province is named after its proximity to Chaohu Lake. On the map of * * * and China, few cities can embrace rivers and lakes like her. Rivers and lakes meet here, and Jiangnan Jiangbei culture gathers here. Nature's uncanny workmanship makes her a "land of abundance" north of the Yangtze River. The historical situation has endowed her with rich scenic spots and historical sites. The water of Chaohu Lake in the Yangtze River has nurtured generations of historical celebrities, leaving precious natural and historical heritage and providing unique scenery and cultural resources for today's Chaohu Lake. As a foreigner who came to study in Anhui, I always hope to have more opportunities to understand this magical land.

Our starting point is Wannian Port in Binhu New District, which is close to the north bank of Chaohu Lake and has 300 mu of lakeside wetland, so it has a beautiful name-Wannian Port. People passing by don't forget to take a walk here and experience the original natural taste. However, once upon a time, it was just a low-lying and waterlogged place. This year 1 month, the experimental section of "Comprehensive Ecological Environment Treatment Project along Chaohu Lake" was officially started here, which took a solid step for the road of restoring wetlands, diverting water into the city, protecting water bodies and controlling pollution in Binhu New District. Create a new flood control and security zone that is pleasant and livable, an ecological wetland coastline with lakes, mountains and green shadows, and a dynamic waterfront space where water and shore blend together, so that ecological water supply can "lead springs into the city". In the next three to five years, more than 50 kilometers of forest protection landscape belt along the lake, together with various styles of high-rise buildings, will compete with each other and show their magical powers with lighting. Watch several dredgers and barges shuttle back and forth on the lake, with their iron arms reaching into the lake or working nervously on the edge of the mudflat. It is not difficult to predict that when the first wave-proof forest viewing platform extending 100 meters to the center of the lake is completed, it will not only present a modern urban ecological landscape, but also become a dazzling "pearl" in Binhu New District.

Not far ahead, we arrived at Hengcheng Village, Yandun Town, Baohe District. Hengcheng Village is a lakeside village with a population of 1528 and a total land area of 1558.40 mu. It is located on the bank of Chaohu Lake and is the "Siberia" of Yandun Township. Village-level collective economy is weak and infrastructure is backward, especially roads. The village leadership team led the masses to work hard and built a gravel road 4.7 kilometers across the village head and 3.5 meters wide, which changed the original rainy and muddy road conditions.

Hengcheng Village has a polder 1.20 mu, and the main ditch for flood control and drought relief in polder is 1.972 manually excavated. Due to disrepair, silt blockage and overgrown weeds, this ditch has lost its function. For more than ten years, farmers here can barely grow one season of rice every year. In case of plum rain or continuous rainy days, farmers suffer heavy losses and the waterlogging in the fields cannot be eliminated naturally. They can only use water trucks or basins for artificial drainage, and they can't plant in the afternoon. Also under the leadership of this village committee, a drainage drought-resistant ditch with a length of 2,400 meters and an average width of 6 meters and a newly dug depth of 1.3 meters was successfully completed. Since then, Hengcheng village agriculture has also changed the history of not being able to grow afternoon crops. In the afternoon of 2005 alone, the net income of the village increased by 654.38 million yuan.

Time has passed, and many people along the Chaohu Lake still live a poor life. When passing a house made of red bricks, a team member went up to give the old woman a pack of biscuits to eat. The old man was taken aback and looked at the biscuits in his hand as if he were carefully identifying them. I think she probably seldom eats such food. Mingming was holding an edible biscuit in her hand, and her hesitant expression turned into tears. With tears in her eyes, she told us about her past: a 90-year-old lady who had no children around her died a few years ago and lived alone on the edge of Chaohu Lake. Like a lonely watchman, she can't wait to return from a long voyage. The old man who usually doesn't talk much saw a group of enthusiastic young people greet her and send her cookies. How can he not burst into tears? It was like people in the old liberated areas saying goodbye to the Red Army soldiers.

Chaohu Lake Basin is a famous "land of plenty" in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and an important national commodity grain and oil production base. Since the 1980s, with the rapid development of river basin economy and the acceleration of urbanization, the water quality of Chaohu Lake has gradually deteriorated, and the endogenous pollution caused by soil erosion has been increasing, and the water pollution problem has become increasingly serious. At present, the overall water quality of the lake area is Grade V, and the water quality of the western half lake is worse than Grade V. People who have lived here for generations do not want to see that Chaohu Lake is one of the "three rivers and three lakes" with serious water pollution in China. Premier Wen Jiabao proposed in the government work report for three consecutive years that pollution prevention and control work in key river basins such as "Three Rivers and Three Lakes" should be done well.

In 2007, a large-scale outbreak of cyanobacteria in Taihu Lake caused great pollution to the water quality of the water source, which seriously affected the production and life of residents in the lake area. Wen Jiabao pointed out at the symposium on the governance of Taihu Lake, Chaohu Lake and Dianchi Lake hosted by Wuxi, Jiangsu Province last year that the governance of the "Three Lakes" should be placed in a more prominent, urgent and important position, with scientific planning, strengthened leadership, clear responsibilities, high standards and strict requirements, firm confidence and unremitting efforts to manage the "Three Lakes" well. Residents in Chaohu Lake Basin are also highly concerned about the water quality changes in Chaohu Lake. At present, the whole Chaohu Lake is in a state of moderate eutrophication, especially in recent years, the frequent outbreak of cyanobacteria has seriously affected the production and life of people in the basin.

Walking along the lake, we can see some floating objects floating on the lake from time to time. People along the way told us that "cyanobacteria are overwhelming, first green, then black, and finally smelly." At this time, what we see is the "mess" left by cyanobacteria: dark patches are attached to the shallows of the lake, and those exposed on the shore have become tiny particles. The villagers said, "We fished it up as fertilizer." June and July are the peak of cyanobacteria outbreak every year. Just entering summer, walking by the lake, you can already vaguely smell some stench. An aunt in Wukan Village, Yandian Township, Feixi County witnessed the whole process of water pollution in Chaohu Lake. "For 30 years, we have been eating Chaohu Lake water for generations. I can only eat well water these years. Now Chaohu Lake water stinks even washing clothes, and our well is getting deeper and deeper, from the original 10 meter to the current 30 meters. "

We also learned from villagers that Chaohu Lake is basically dead in drinking water. Therefore, residents near Chaohu Lake can only rely on well water as drinking water. Now brick wells are no longer used, and every household is using the land to go down the well. Except for the new households who moved in, almost every household has wells. It used to be' well water does not interfere with river water', but now it is the other way around. Well water is disturbed by lake water, and the water is getting stinky.

We know that the biggest threat of Chaohu Lake pollution to the surrounding residents is that drinking water is getting harder and harder. Even poultry and livestock have to rely on filtered well water. Chaohu Lake is one of the fifth largest freshwater lakes in China. For the villagers who have lived near Chaohu Lake for generations, in addition to going out to work, Chaohu Lake is their main sideline income-catching fish and shrimp and selling them in the market to supplement their daily use.

"The shrimp in Chaohu Lake is very good. 7. 8 yuan weighs a kilo. There are two people in our family in the water. When it is good, we can earn more than 100 yuan a day. An uncle in Luoli Village, a cigarette shop, told us, "Now all the fish and shrimp are dead, and the grass is dead with them, which has caused us great losses and threatened our lives. "Along the direction of the uncle's finger, two islands, Gushan and Laoshan, are faintly visible. The gray-black lake has a red and dry smell. The scene of "a vast sea of smoke and white sails" can only be left in the picture of a tourism brochure in our hands.

Walking by the lake, I saw a couple sunbathing whitebait in Chaohu Lake. They said, "The whitebait in Chaohu Lake is very famous, but now it is dying because of pollution. More than 30 families in the village used to earn an average monthly income of 1000 yuan by selling fish. It's hard to catch fish now. In August, we are all ready to go to work. "

Water is spiritual, because it has life, and when it meets water, it has life. People on the shore of Chaohu Lake have lived on aquaculture for generations. When the water in Chaohu Lake is clear, their lives are thriving, Chaohu Lake is polluted and their lives are full of crises. The water quality of Chaohu Lake gradually became clear from west to east. The main rivers entering the lake are: Nanfei River, Shangpai River, Fengle River, Hangbu River, Baishi Tianhe River, Zhaohe River and Gaozhe River. These rivers all originate in hilly areas, with large catchment area, short river course, large slope and fast confluence. After passing through the polder around the lake, it enters Chaohu Lake, leaves Chaohu Gate after being regulated by the lake, and flows into the Yangtze River under Yuxi Gate via Yuxi River. We see that the pollution sources in Chaohu Lake are scattered, the fine water sinks slowly, and 70% of the pollution is industrial sewage discharge. The low utilization rate of chemical fertilizer around the lake area and the direct discharge of rural domestic sewage into the pond without treatment are the important reasons for the increase of phosphorus content and cyanobacteria in Chaohu Lake. In order to eliminate cyanobacteria in Chaohu Lake, Hefei implemented the "Action Plan for Village Environmental Renovation", striving to make the centralized collection rate of rural garbage reach more than 80%, the sewage treatment rate reach more than 80%, and the greening rate reach more than 30% in five years.

The comprehensive control of water pollution in Chaohu Lake, which has already begun, may require a huge sum of nearly 100 billion yuan, and the initial goal of radical treatment of water pollution in Chaohu Lake is to restore the ecological virtuous circle in Chaohu Lake basin in about 20 years. The work to be done includes the construction of solid waste treatment projects such as municipal domestic sewage and garbage, the dredging and slope protection interception of polluted sediment, and the removal of cyanobacteria on Chaohu Lake surface. The accompanying teacher Wu Chao of Anhui Ecological and Wetland Protection Association told us that cyanobacteria is the simplest and most primitive of all algae. All cyanobacteria contain a special blue pigment, hence the name cyanobacteria. In some nutrient-rich water bodies, some cyanobacteria often multiply in large numbers in summer, forming a layer of blue-green floating foam on the water surface, giving off a stench, which is called "bloom", and a large-scale cyanobacteria outbreak is called "green tide" (corresponding to red tide in the ocean). Green tide causes the deterioration of water quality, and when it is serious, it will exhaust the oxygen in the water, leading to the death of fish. More seriously, some kinds of cyanobacteria (such as Microcystis) also produce toxins (MC for short), and about 50% of green tides contain a lot of MC. MC is not only directly toxic to fish, humans and animals, but also an important cause of liver cancer. MC is heat-resistant, not easily decomposed by boiling water, but can be adsorbed by activated carbon, so the polluted water source can be purified by activated carbon water purifier. The natural enemy cyanobacteria and other algae are the food of silver carp. We can control algae by throwing this fry to prevent algae from erupting.

At dinner time, we arrived at Xihu Village, Sanhe Town, Feixi County. The villagers here live by the lake, and the aquaculture industry has a unique advantage. However, due to the proximity to Chaohu Lake and the flooding of the lake, our camp is located in the newly-built flood control headquarters compound. Standing on the levee by the lake and looking northeast, the lonely mountain is faintly visible. Listening to the beautiful legend of lonely mountain told by fellow villagers, I savored this magical land. The ape-man in Hexian county 300,000 years ago and homo sapiens in Yinshan mountain 200,000 years ago show that the distant ancestors of human beings have thrived here, and the site of Lingjiatan 5,000 years ago shows that a highly developed city-state has emerged here. Liu Yuxi's humble abode is decorated with zhanghua, Zhu Yuanzhang's army captured Jingning, the first shot of the New Fourth Army in Jiangbei, the first ship of the People's Liberation Army crossing the river, and the Dan Xin of Feng Yuxiang, Li Kenong, Zhang Zhizhong, Dai Anlan and other generals reflected the sun and the moon. Lv Qiming, a famous composer, and Xu Haifeng, an Olympic gold medalist, were born here. It can be said that Chaohu Lake is full of water, and every drop is romantic.

Chaohu Lake is the birthplace of "Chaohu Navy". At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Yu's father and son and An's brother, who lived in the nest, assembled troops in Chaohu Lake to protect the village, built a water village on Laoshan Island in the middle of the lake, repaired ships and trained naval officers. It was this navy division who defeated the Yuan Army in yuxikou, rescued Zhu Yuanzhang, helped Zhu Yuanzhang send troops to cross the river, and made great contributions to Jianye in the Ming Dynasty. As a result, Yu and his son were named "two public and two Hou". Yufu Ancestral Hall and Laoshan Nanqi Site are still branded with this little-known historical achievement.

Chaohu Lake is the cradle of Huai Army culture. Li Hongzhang concentrated on training the Huai Army in China in the temple waters of Chaohu Lake. A group of famous patriotic generals-Ding, Wu Zan, Liu and Pan from Lujiang, and Liu Mingchuan from Feixi, made outstanding achievements in the three major battles of the Anti-French War, the Sino-Japanese War and the Anti-Eight-Nation Alliance War. There are many Huai Army remains in Chaohu area, centering on Miao, Li Wengong Temple, Wenfeng Pagoda of Laoshan Mountain in Zhongmiao Town and Li Hongzhang Pawnshop in Yangtong Town, from Lujiang's former residence, Wuzhuanggong Temple, Pan Temple and Liu Tomb to Juchao District, Ding's former residence in Wuwei County and cemetery, forming a relatively complete Huai Army remains.

The next day, we crossed the lake by boat from the fishery administration, landed at Zhongmiao in Chaohu City, and continued to drive eastward along the north bank of Chaohu Lake. When I arrived in Huang Lu Town, my colleague Anhui Youth Daily reporter said that the Huang Lu Normal School founded by patriotic general Zhang Zhizhong 1933 was nearby. Over the past 70 years, Chaohu Lake in Hui Ze has trained many rural education talents. Because it is far from our inspection route, I can only leave regrets here this time. Meditate on a song "Five Laws of Mountain Road". Reflections on Huang Lu Normal School

Wide stone steps,

Towering Huangshan Mountain;

Qionglou listens to Quya,

The school emblem reflects Xia Dan;

Tall and straight,

Fragrant;

The general smiled nobly,

Charm is in the world.

I seem to see the motto of "Respect for courage and sincerity" inscribed by General Zhang Zhizhong. He hopes that all teachers and students in the school should respect others, be brave and just, be sincere and firm. Zhang Zhizhong asked teachers and students to put these four words into action whether doing things or studying. Huang's students also regard it as the treasure of life, the way to be a man, and the key to reading.

Jianghuai, thousands of miles away, Chaohu is the most beautiful. The beauty of Chaohu Lake lies not only in its vastness, but also in its rich products, profound context and scenic spots all over the two sides. What moves us even more is the spirit of unremitting struggle of children of Chaohu Lake from generation to generation. There is a wonderful couplet in Laoshan Temple in the lake, which reads, "A hundred miles are uneven in shape. I want to see the beauty of spring, the smoke disappears and the rain disappears, and the cenlou is open and sparse, far away from wearing a beautiful face." The couplet at the bottom reads: "A thousand waves are surging, which does not attract a quiet autumn color, and the wind is calm, and the night only leans on the mountain ice.