Shi Cheng – China’s Sunken City

 Shi Cheng – China’s Sunken City

▪ Shi Cheng is an eerie sunken ancient city in China. Before Shi Cheng was submerged, 290,000 people had to be relocated from the city in which their ancestors had lived in for well over a thousand years.

Qiandao Lake, Diving into sunken Lion City (Liquid Image HD320)

▪ In 1959 the Xin’an Dam was built down river from Shi Cheng to form an artificial lake which consumed the 1,300 year old city. Shi Cheng is now submerged about 85-131 feet (26-40 meters) beneath the gorgeous Qiandao Lake (Thousand Island Lake), so named for the now more than a thousand islands that dot the lake. 

▪ The first dive on the city was in 2001. This sunken city is about the size of 62 football fields.

A sketch of what how City would look like 1300 years ago.

Xin’an hydroelectric installation. The lake is also used for bottled water production.

Dive Video:

VIDEO FILMED BY CAROLYN WANG, EDITED BY LAWRENCE WANG

Check out Lawrence’s other awesome dive videos! www.youtube.com/user/Reegtlaw/videos

I had the chance to do several dives in Qiandao Lake in China, exploring the underwater ancient ruins of Lion City (Shi Cheng). The city is believed to date back to 621 AD, during the Tang Dynasty, and the ruins are 85 – 130ft below the surface of Qiandao Lake (Thousand Island Lake) in the Zhejiang Province in eastern China. It’s been submerged since 1959 when the valley at the foot of the Wu Shi (Five Lion) mountain was flooded with the building of the Xin’an River Hydropower Station.