When even the gods are charmed …

This is a lake of great beauty and mystery. In its depth, an ancient city sleeps, and UFOs and mythical creatures are believed to rise from its waters occasionally. Pauline D Loh visits Yunnan's Fuxian Lake.

We were intrigued by the myths long before we fell in love with the scenery. Fuxian Lake, we were told, was named because it was a deity-charmer. Village story-tellers say two emissaries from the Jade Emperor were sent down to earth on a fact-finding mission. The immortal pair was so mesmerized by the beauty of the lake that they forgot to return to heaven.

For their truancy, the delinquent deities were turned into a pair of boulders that still stand sentinel over their beloved lake.

What a lovely story. Apart from the fairy tales, Fuxian Lake has plenty of other mystique, history and mystery.

It is the third largest lake in Yunnan by area, listed after Dianchi in Kunming and the picturesque Erhai in Dali. It is, however, the deepest at 155 meters. This also pushes it up the national rankings: only Tianchi, the volcanic lake in Changbai Mountain in northeast China, is deeper.

It is from these depths that legends rise. Scholars and scientists are convinced that an ancient city lies at the bottom of the lake, probably having slid into the water after an earthquake. Carbon dating of earthenware recovered from the lake bottom proves the relics are more than 1,700 years old.

Speculations of a Chinese Atlantis aside, there have also been reports of brilliant disklike UFOs rising from the lake, which created immense turbulence in the water. The latest reported sighting was in 1991.

A winged horse has also been seen flying from the lake, and local folklore records sightings of a pure white horselike creature. Perhaps it is a long lost cousin of Pegasus, but it does add to the romance and mystique of a lake which can turn pure blue in sunshine, but veils its face often with unseasonal mists.

These days, its shores are crowded with holiday makers from nearby Kunming, only about an hour's drive away.

On its shores, too, is a brand- new luxury family resort operated by the Banyan Tree group under its secondary Angsana branding. It is the first time the international six-star resort group is aiming for the domestic travel market in China, and the Fuxian Lake Angsana resort can well be a test case.

We were there the week the resort opened, but it still managed to impress us with its parent company's well known signature hospitality. There were obvious signs that the resort was still getting its act together, but teething pains are to be expected.

The resort has stuck to Banyan Tree's guiding principle of eco-tourism and there is a wetland park attached to the hospitality facilities which promises to attract the hordes once summer draws near and visitors can shed their clothes and frolic.

On the fringes of Fuxian Lake are the little townships of Chengjiang County, where the locals are happily adapting with their brand of eco-tourism, including farm stays and rustic restaurants that fit right into the Slow Food philosophy.

The vegetables grow right next to the restaurant in neat beds. You can smell the pigs, hear the donkeys and see your poultry dinner being chased around the yard by the farmer's wife. The fish course is fattening in the pond by the watercress patch, and if you feel so inclined, you can work up an appetite by exploring the foothills behind the farm and make friends with the donkey.

It is a colorful living tapestry framed by huge bunches of chili drying in the sun. We basked in the warmth, happy we came, and allowed ourselves to be charmed by the lake's simple pleasures.

(China Daily 01/16/2011 page16)