Erhai Lake is the largest highland lake next to Dianchi and one of the seven biggest fresh water lakes in China. It means, 'sea shaped like an ear', in Chinese. Implying that the lake is ear shaped and as large as a sea, hence it was so named. The lake covers an area of 250 square kilometers and is located about two kilometers east of Dali. It is like a crescent lying between Cangshan and Dali city as seen from Cangshan Mount. In a sunny day, the crystal waters of Erhai Lake and the snow mantled Cangshan Mount radiate with each other. Thus the scene was commonly described as 'Silver Cangshan and Jade Erhai'.

Erhai Lake is located in the Dali Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province. Since it has a shape of an ear, it gets the name Erhai (Ear Lake). It stretches 42 kilometers from north to south and 3.9 kilometers from east to west. The lake covers an area of more than 250 square kilometers and is 21.5 meters at the deepest. It is ranked the second place in Yunnan Province and the seventh freshwater lake in the nation by area and water storage.    

The Erhai Lake was formed by the subsidence of geological fault. It is reputed as the pearl on plateau for its beautiful scenery. The famous sights of the Erhai Lake include Three Islets, namely Jinsuo, Chiwen, and Yuji, Four Lands, namely Malian, Mandarin Duck, Qingsha, and Daguanpeng, and Nine Curves, namely Lotus, Huge Crane, Panji, Phoenix Wing, Dill, Ox Horn, Bozuo, Gaopin, Soaring Crane. Besides these sights, the lake also has some other attractions such as Shadows of Three Towers, Nine-Arched Stone Bridge, and Jade Dragon Playing in the Water, etc.     

Many scenic spots surround the lake, including the Erhai Park, the Xizhou Mid-sea Pavilion, the Haishe and the Double-Corridor. Moreover, one can also find a number of historic sites in the Erhai Lake Scenic Area, including the Heavenly Mirror Pavilion, the Water Moon Pavilion, the Zhuhai Pavilion, the Kwan-yin Pavilion and the Small Putuo Hill.     

With a mild climate, the Erhai Lake is abundant in aquatic products and is one of the largest production bases of aquatic products in Yunnan Province.