Pure & Calm Lake Lugu

The moment you see the pure blue Lake Lugu, you’ll find it worth the long and tough bus travel. The lake is rather deep, a definite regulating influence is exerted on the temperature of the lake shores. Therefore the surrounding mountains abound in forest resources which afford an exquisite beauty, much fresh air and charming scenery. At present it is one of the places in China which is least damaged by human efforts and best preserved in its natural features. Among the list of must-visit spots, put on the name Lake Lugu. 



Silence is the main theme of the lake. Stood by the lake, you can hear women singing. The deep touching singing floats along with the water, taking your thought to the ancient sad legend linked to the lake Lugu. A beautiful female by the name of Gemu had many local mountain spirits as her male friends. The young spirit was pretty and also had male friends among the male spirits from other mountain regions. During one of her intimate dalliances with a local male spirit, a mountain spirit from a distant mountain came to her house on horseback. When he found her in the company of a local male spirit, he felt humiliated and quickly turned his horse round and started going back. Gemu heard the neigh of the horse and realized that a distant mountain spirit had come on horseback to visit her. She came out of the house and started running after the visitor spirit. She could only see a large hoof print at the foot of the mountain where the male spirit had disappeared.

As it was getting dark, Gemu could not proceed further and she started weeping frenziedly, which resulted in the hoofprint turning into a lake with her tears. When the male spirit heard her crying, and saw that the hoofprint had turned into a lake with her tears, he lovingly threw a few pearls and flowers into the lake. The pearls are identified now as the islands in the lake and the flowers which floated to the lake shore are said to be scented azaleas and other flowers, which bloom every year.



If you’ve searched the Lake Lugu, you’ll definitely notice the particular matriarchy society there. The place is called "The Female's Kingdom" in the world and a "living fossil of the matriarchal society hard to come by" for some reasons. The female is predominant there and is therefore the leader of a family. Men and women are not united by wedlock, each living at the mother's home respectively.



Females inherit property and in the case of divorce the mother automatically gets custody of the child or children. In a typical Mosuo home, several generations live together, men on one side and women on the other.