10th Gaoyou Lake Dry Pond Festival

The Gaoyou Lake Dry Pond Festival is a traditional winter festival for fishermen to celebrate a bountiful harvest. During the festival, fishermen drain the water from fish ponds, clear the silt, and catch all kinds of fish, creating a lively harvest scene. On the morning of December 29, the festival was grandly launched at the multifunctional hall of the Gaoyou Lake Reed Marsh. Hundreds of people, including online influencers, media, tour groups, and locals, participated in the 10th Gaoyou Lake Dry Pond Festival. At the launch ceremony, Liu Ailin, Chairman of Yangzhou Gaoyou Lake Tourism Investment and Development Co., Ltd., personally introduced the festival activities to the guests. The festival, themed "Magical Gaoyou Lake Dry Pond Festival," features a series of activities, such as the "Fish King Competition," "Lake Water Boiled Lake Fish," and "New Year Goods," allowing tourists to experience the joy of farming and spread folk customs. After the launch ceremony, everyone took speedboats and cruise ships to the fishing site. Standing on the shore, you can see a dozen fishermen pulling nets (or driving nets) from afar, which is actually driving the fish in the pond together with the net. As a northwesterner, this is the first time I have seen such a method. Some people can't wait to change into leather pants, holding a fishing net and looking around by the lake, for fear of missing the biggest fish. During the event, tourists can select the biggest "fish" for on-site weighing and PK, and the winner will receive a carefully prepared gift... Northwesterners rarely see so many fish, and it is the first time to see a 56-jin big fish. My friend said that this is almost the weight of a sheep in the northwest. After the Fish King Competition, there is a fish pond picnic (I don't know what it is called locally, but that's what I call it). There is a big pot by the fish pond, which is estimated to be able to cook hundreds of jin of fish at a time. Various big fish caught from the fish pond will be put in this pot and simmered slowly. When the net is caught at noon, everyone will sit here on the ground, just like eating a big pot of fish at the annual meeting. The delicious big pot of fish is praised by everyone... The Gaoyou Lake Dry Pond Festival lasts from December 28 to 31 every year. The Gaoyou Lake Dry Pond Festival is not only an inheritance of traditional folk customs, but also a way to maintain fish ponds, so that fish can grow better in the coming year. It is said that there will be a cultural performance and award ceremony in the evening. Such a dry pond festival, in fact, I want to come again next year.