Jingyuetan was built artificially in 1934 as Changchun’s first urban water-supply source, according to the Jilin gazetteer. A later history traces the system from the Xiaohéyán River basin through the reservoir, intake and underground works to a water plant at Nanling; the system began supplying the city in January 1936. The curved lake and wooded slopes are therefore a planned water landscape, not an untouched basin.
From the journal
Jingyuetan: A Reservoir Grown into a Forest
Jingyuetan began as a 1934 water-supply reservoir beside a deliberately planted watershed. Recent reports describe shoreline repair and ecological sampling at the lake.
In the same city · Changchun ↗A forest valley became a city water source
The water works displaced residents and depended on labour
A 2020 historical feature reports that 703 households—about 3,900 people—were relocated from land taken for the reservoir. It describes an earthen embankment, spillway and intake built by a Japanese contractor with workers recruited from within China. The new water source required a large basin and displaced residents already living on the site.
Tree planting was part of protecting the supply
In 1935, an afforestation station set a ten-year plan for planting the slopes and gullies draining toward the reservoir. The history names forestry manager Sun Naiying and technical lead Chen Xicheng among those involved. Trees were meant to protect the watershed and limit erosion, making forest management part of water management. The local gazetteer also describes the surrounding forest as planted and lists about thirty tree species.
Repair and public access gave the reservoir a second life
The historical account says the water system was damaged by 1948 and restored in six days through emergency repairs to its power and machinery. The gazetteer records how the reservoir’s uses later widened to seasonal walking, cycling and winter recreation. Public access added trails and activity to a landscape still shaped by the dam, supply works and planted watershed.
Water, trees and soil still require monitoring
Recent government reporting shows that care remains practical work. In March 2026, a provincial report described soil erosion and fallen trees near the Forest Bathing Area and said bank repairs were under way. In September, the provincial ecology department reported sampling benthic life at Yishui Bay (溢水湾) during a public-science event. Its account names snails, aquatic-insect larvae and mayfly nymphs as organisms used in water-ecology monitoring. Field crews were checking the shore, water and vegetation through separate repair and monitoring work.