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Xinglong Lake (兴隆湖): The Jelly-Blue Lake With an Underwater Bookstore

Walk-in · free · lakeshore 24h

Our eighteen-parks note gives Xinglong Lake top billing, and the nickname locals use explains it: the "jelly sea" — water treated and planted until it reads glassy blue-green over swaying underwater meadows. The lake anchors Tianfu New Area's Science City, an hour south of the old centre on Metro Line 1, and the entire shoreline is free public parkland.

The building everyone crosses the city for is the Zhongxin (CITIC) Bookstore on the north shore — a low pavilion designed like a book dropped at the water's edge, whose reading room steps down until its glass wall sits about a metre below the lake surface. You read with water plants and fish drifting past at eye level.

The essentials

WhatA large engineered lake with clear "jelly-blue" water, lakeshore lawns, cycle paths — and a sunken lakeside bookstore
WhereTianfu New Area (Science City), about 25 km south of central Chengdu
Getting thereMetro Line 1 to Kexuecheng 科学城 station, exit C, then a few hundred metres to the north shore
CostFree; the bookstore is free too (coffee money optional)
HoursLakeshore 24h; bookstore daytime hours
BookingBookstore may ask for a free reservation via its WeChat account on busy days

Why locals rate it

Because it's the flagship of the claim our source note makes — "Chengdu's best places are all free." The city rebuilt this lake's entire ecology until the water turned transparent, then wrapped it in lawns instead of fences. On weekends it's picnic blankets, kites and triathletes; on weekdays it's the science city at lunch. The sunken reading wall is the photograph, but the walk is the point.

Only KORA will tell you
  • The water is a no-swim zone — the clarity is a managed ecosystem, and wardens do enforce it. Paddling feet stay on the steps.
  • Check the bookstore's free reservation on weekends and holidays — walk-ins queue when the slots are gone. KORA can handle the Chinese-only mini-program for you.
  • Rent a shared bike at the metro exit — the full lake loop is a long walk but an easy, flat ride, and the south shore is where the crowds aren't.

Around it

Line 1 strings the modern city together: Jiaozi Park and the ring bridge is on the way back at Financial City, and Luhu CPI is a stop-and-a-walk away at Hongshi Park. The full ranked list is on the Chengdu local map.

First time in China? KORA handles the parts that don't survive translation — payments, pins, menus, and a plan B when it rains.

Chat with KORA Survival Kit — from $19.90