East Lake is the largest urban lake in China, covering about 33 square kilometres on the eastern side of Wuchang — bigger than the entire municipality of Macao. The shoreline is a series of parks, gardens, and quiet bays, with cycling and walking paths running the full perimeter for those willing to take a full day over it.
The major attractions on the lake are the Mochou Lake Park, the Hubei Provincial Museum on the western shore, and the Wuhan Botanical Garden, which keeps an important national collection of Chinese trees and shrubs. The cherry blossom garden on the northern shore has hundreds of trees and is one of the best places to see sakura in China each March and April — the gift of Japanese friendship plantings in the 1970s.