A better life on Anhui's 2nd-largest freshwater lake

 

Pan Xiuxing(R) with his wife and younger son takes a photo in front of their restaurant in East China's Anhui province.

HEFEI: As Pan Xiuxing, a 36-year-old businessman in Mingguang City, took us for lunch in mid-April to his floating restaurant on Nushanhu – Anhui province's second-largest freshwater lake, he beamed with pleasure: "You'll love the dishes!"

His prize gift to diners is an "All Fish Feast", cooked by his wife Shi Yaocai, 40, who presents the dishes before us with mouth-watering descriptions: Soft-shelled turtle, lobsters, Mandarin fish, carp, and bighead carp. A combination to crash any diet plans!

On the brim of the lake, Pan and his wife opened their Nushanhu Floating Restaurant and a hotel to cater to visitors swarming to eastern Anhui see the lake on the south bank of the Huaihe river --- one of China's top seven rivers, and enjoy its produce.

We sampled the fresh delicacies and as we peeled the lobsters Pan stepped in, asking: "How is the taste?"

"Superb" was the chorus from the visitors, who all claimed that the "lobsters are fresh and clean, and the soft-shelled turtle tastes different from those in the cities."

"Come in autumn, we'll have bountiful crabs then," he added.

Following lunch, Pan invited us to embark on his motor yacht to tour the lake. He pointed out that the "the lake is a treasure chest'' of nature.

He stopped from time to time for us to see egrets standing on the waterweeds, and fishermen filling their nets. Finally, we arrived at the verge of a 122-acre aquatic enclosure, dubbed by Pan "the largest" on the lake and rented from the Nushanhu Township of Mingguang administered by Chuzhou City.

"Last year, the owner netted some 75,000 kilos of bighead carp priced at around 900,000 yuan ($145,000), more than 10,000 kilos of striped snakeheads and white fish. Besides, he also had a big catch of crabs. He earned much more than a million yuan each year," Pan explained.

"How much do you earn annually?" I asked.

"For the restaurant, 80,000 to 100,000 yuan. There's also some income from the hotel," he said, noting that his 60,000-yuan motor dingy also brings in some cash from travelers paying 100 yuan each for a lake tour.

"What is your ideal goal from your business," asked Yan Ming, chief of Chuzhou Municipal Bureau of Tourism, who accompanied us on the tour.

"I hope to gain more than 500,000 yuan each year. This way, my family can have a better life," said Pan whose two kids are aged 13 and two-year-and-half respectively.

"My big headache is our floating hotel, which with 40 beds cannot meet the demand of visitors flocking to the lake for recreational trips," he said.

Yan Ming suggested Pan and his neighboring businesses form an alliance to better co-ordinate with each other and avoid vile competition. "You should have better-regulated price at restaurants and hotels to attract more visitors."

Xie Minglong, chief of Mingguang City Bureau of Tourism, puts the number of tourists to Nushanhu at some 200,000 each year.

"I think the local township must establish a Nushanhu Lake Tourism Development Office, overseeing a non-profit but coordinating tourism company to better guide the local business owners. This is a way for locals to have a better life," Xie said.

For a lasting better life, Pan affirms the township government must better guide the surrounding vegetable planting, to prevent pesticides from flowing into the lake, which is the "golden rice bowl" for locals.