On July 18th, representatives of media outlets from all across China and overseas were invited to visit Danzhou's Songtao Reservoir. This reservoir is the largest body of fresh water in south China's Hainan Province.

An aerial view of Songtao Reservoir. (Li Hao)

Located in the upper reaches of the Nandu River, Songtao Reservoir spans parts of Danzhou, Qiongzhong and Baisha, and is Hainan's primary drinking water source. Surrounded on all sides by lush mountains, the reservoir is sometimes likened to a precious gemstone set amid the landscape of western Hainan.

During a boat trip on the reservoir, Fan Ruiqi—a media guest from Sichuan—said: "The landscape here is stunningly beautiful."  

Media guests boarding a boat for a tour of Songtao. (Li Hao)

First built in 1958, Songtao Reservoir is capable of holding a total volume of 3345 million cubic meters. Collecting rainfall from the upper reaches of the Nandu River watershed, it not only provides drinking water but also supplies the overall irrigation needs of large swathes of agricultural land in the north and northwest of the island.  

According to Luo Feng, an official from the administration of the Songtao Reservoir, the reservoir's conservation area covers 248.27 square kilometers and was zoned by the provincial government as an ecological protection area beginning in 2007.

An aerial view of Songtao Reservoir. (Li Hao)

Since the master plan for the Hainan Free Trade Port was released in June 2020, more effort is being made across the province to improve the ecological balance and biological diversity and Songtao is no exception.

The media tour promoting the Hainan FTP will last until July 23rd and the representatives taking part will also go to Qiongzhong, Wuzhishan, Ledong, and Sanya for a close view of the development of the Hainan FTP.