Dianshan Lake

Dianshan Hu is Shanghai's largest freshwater reservoir, covering 62 square kilometres roughly 60 kilometres west of the city in Qingpu district on the Jiangsu border. The shallow lake, once called Xuedian Hu, helps supply Shanghai's drinking water and is managed jointly with the neighbouring city of Kunshan. Over the past two decades sailing clubs, a water-sports centre and the growing canal town of Zhujiajiao have settled along its shores, the latter often marketed as Shanghai's Venice. Most visitors combine a boat ride through the old canals with a walk along the lakefront, where early mornings bring out anglers and tai-chi groups.