Lake Tai, Protected freshwater lake in Jiangsu, China.

Taihu is a shallow freshwater lake with a surface area of about 2,338 square kilometers and an average depth of 1.9 meters. It holds 48 islands and is bordered by 72 peaks, including the 293.5-meter Mali Peak on the Dongshan peninsula. The lake links to the Beijing–Hangzhou Grand Canal and receives water from the Yangtze and Qiantang rivers.

Fossils show the site was dry land until the East China Sea entered during the Holocene. Silt from the Yangtze and Qiantang deltas then cut the basin off from the sea, and river and rain water turned it fresh. In 2009 Nanjing University researchers reported shock-metamorphosed quartz and spherules in lake mud, evidence of a meteor impact; a 2021 study instead proposed an air burst, which would explain the shallowness.

The name Taihu means great lake and appears in centuries of Chinese poetry and painting. Fishermen still work the waters today using traditional flat-bottomed boats designed for the shallow depths between the islands.

The best views come from hills along the northern and western shores, where paths wind through orchards and tea plantations. Boat trips to the islands depart from several piers and take between thirty minutes and two hours depending on the destination.

The Yuantouzhu peninsula takes its name from its shape, which resembles a turtle head when seen from the water. On clear days you can spot the silhouettes of distant islands from there, which seem to almost disappear into the haze.