Pristine Hengshui Lake offers an escape from fast-paced urban life

The largest expanse of inland water on the North China plain, Hengshui Lake in Hebei province has a 75-square-kilometer watershed and a storage capacity of 188 million cubic meters.

The pristine wetland is home to more than 900 species of insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and plankton.

The Hengshui lake owns a 350-sq-km lotus garden, one of the places with the most various lotus species in China.