Junshan Island sits in Dongting Lake about 15 kilometres from the Yueyang waterfront, a low island of perhaps 100 hectares covered in bamboo groves, tea plantations, and the ruins of pavilions that have occupied this location since the Tang dynasty. Boat tours from the pier below Yueyang Tower cost ¥80 return and take about 30 minutes each way; visitors are free to walk the island's paths for as long as they wish.
The island is most famous for producing Junshan Yinzhen (Silver Needle), one of China's ten most celebrated teas and the only Chinese yellow tea on that canonical list. The plantation terraces are open for viewing and the island has a tearoom where the tea can be tasted — expensive by the cup but worth experiencing in context. The bamboo groves, the lake views from the eastern shore, and the general absence of commercialisation relative to mainland tourist sites make the island a genuinely pleasant place to spend a couple of hours. The boat journey provides excellent views of Yueyang Tower from the water.