Taihu Lake on the mend

Ecological tourism to places of historical interest and in rural areas has been helping Wuxi, Jiangsu province, tackle its water pollution problem, particularly the water quality of Taihu Lake.

"Thanks to efforts over the past five years, the water in Taihu Lake has changed from heavily eutrophic to lightly eutrophic," said Li Xiaomin, top official of Wuxi.

"In the next five years, which is the time span of the 13th National Five-Year Plan (2016-20), we will continue to cut the sources of pollution by shutting down high-polluting enterprises and encouraging high technologies and advanced manufacturing and modern service industry."

The term "eutrophic" refers to water with an oversupply of nutrients from fertilizers, detergents, sewage or other materials that induce rapid algae growth, which in turn cuts oxygen in the aquatic system.

Blue-green algae has been the main problem in Taihu Lake. In 2007, the overgrowth of the algae in the lake resulted in a total water supply loss in Wuxi.

The costly annual work of cleaning out algae can last as long as six months.

Wu Guoping, board chairman of Wuxi Lingshan Cultural Tourism Group, attested to the lake's recovering trend.

"The number of small silver fish - a creature that lives only in clean water - has increased over the years," Wu said.

Lingshan Mountain, located beside Taihu Lake, is a holy place of Buddhism.

The Mountain receives around 3 million tourists every year. They are given a garbage bag the moment they step into the gate as reminder to be respectful to the environment.

Zhu Hong, deputy head of a Wuxi district, said ecological tourism has become a growing source of income for residents.

Tourism in rural areas, where tourists stay in residents' houses and enjoy fresh farm produce, has not only created jobs but also makes the village more beautiful, Zhu said.

"Everyone has participated in building up the village by either working in the service sector or engaging in modern farming. Apart from making money, our villagers love organizing performances," Zhu added.