Lugu Lake: A place full of legends

Lugu Lake, also known as Lianghai Lake and Zuosuohai Lake, is located on the border between the Ninglang Yi ethnic autonomous prefecture of Yunnan province and the Liangshan Yi ethnic prefecture.

There are many legends and romantic stories about the lake that make it more mysterious and attractive.

There is also an interesting story about the lake's formation. Long ago, Lugu Lake was a small village, and there was an orphan living in the village. One day, the little orphan grazed on Lion Mountain, which is located by the present Lugu Lake. One day, the orphan slept under a big tree and saw a big fish in his dreams. The big fish said: "Poor little boy, please don't bring your lunch box tomorrow. You can just eat me." When the boy wakes up, he finds a fish in a cave and eats some of the fish's meat. The next day, when the boy goes to the cave again, he finds that the fish has recovered. After a couple of days, the fish's story is known by a greedy villager. He tries to take the fish out of the cave. However, as soon as the fish is pulled out from the cave, a big flood comes out of the cave as well. The water engulfs the village. When the flood arrives, a Mosuo woman feeding her pigs and playing with her little children immediately puts her children into a pig trough. She drowns in the water. To commemorate that great Mosuo mother, local people use the wood to make "pig trough boats", and Lugu Lake is known as the Mosuo people's mother lake.

"Pig trough boats" in Lugu Lake [Photo/Xinhua]