The annual Taihu Lake Fishing Flavor Festival opens in Wuxi's Yuantouzhu Scenic Area – also known as Turtle Head Isle – on Sept 11.[Photo/jschina.com.cn]

The annual Taihu Lake Fishing Flavor Festival opened in Wuxi's Yuantouzhu Scenic Area -- also known as Turtle Head Isle -- on Sept 11.

The festival's launch ceremony was attended by government officials and featured a wide range of lively activities -- including dance performances, cycling, a fishing culture fair and seafood to get stuck into.

The festival, which will run until November, includes a grand firework show at Mid-autumn Festival, a micro-video competition, various singing and dance performances and a food feast featuring crabs and fish in Taihu Lake.

Wuxi is famous for "Three Whites" in Taihu Lake, including white shrimp, white fish and silver fish. [Photo/wxrb.com]

During the ceremony, a new festival mascot called Yuan Meng Yu caught people's attention. Its name means "cute fish of Yuantouzhu" and its design was based on the fishes from Taihu Lake.

Shi Mingdong, director of Wuxi Taihu Yuantouzhu Scenic Area management office, also announced that the new Cherry Blossom Villa resort hotel will open there in near future.

Shi added that the hotel is being built in the Jiangnan style, which will be in a harmony with the whole scenic area.