又是一年飘雪时，上万只大天鹅如期飞至荣成天鹅湖，在这里栖息越冬，天鹅湖迎来了又一个美丽的冬季。 迎着轻盈飞舞的朵朵雪花，沐浴着略具寒意的阵阵海风，带着无比的惬意，漫步荣成天鹅湖，观海天一色的壮美景观，赏仙子凌波的曼妙舞姿，读人与自然融洽相处的和谐诗篇。
美丽的传说
传说秦始皇统一中国后，亲自到荣成成山头移山填海造桥求长生不老药，命令其妻听到锣声按时送饭。一日，天还未晌，由于昆虫乱飞撞响了锣，其妻急忙把饭送到。秦始皇见妻子违令提前送饭，大怒，不由分说将妻子处死。妻子冤屈，泪流成河，在成山头附近马山北坡的洼地汇成了“泪水湖”。人们怀念她，呼唤她纯洁的灵魂回到人间，于是天上便落下了无数的大天鹅，轻轻漂游在泪水湖上。人们也就把这泪水湖叫做天鹅湖了。
传说给天鹅湖增添了许多神奇与魅力，其实“湖”的形成、天鹅的到来，与荣成独特的地理位置与气候环境密不可分。
天鹅属雁形目鸭科，国家二级保护动物，是一种举止庄重、仪态优雅的大型水鸟。中国主要有三种天鹅，分别是大天鹅、小天鹅和疣鼻天鹅。在荣成栖息的主要是大天鹅，大天鹅在中国古代称为“鹄”，属于大型游禽，是世界上飞得最高的鸟类之一，身长约140厘米，全身羽毛纯白色，颈部修长而弯曲，眼先至嘴基淡黄色，上嘴黄色可达鼻孔，嘴尖及下嘴黑色，脚黑色，栖息于多苇草的大型湖泊、池塘和沼泽地带，以水生植物为食，也吃水生昆虫和软体动物。
荣成市地处山东半岛最东端，属暖温带季风型湿润气候区。独特的沿海地貌和优越的自然环境，每年11月到次年4月，都有上万只天鹅飞临这里栖息越冬。在众多的天鹅湖中，最大的当数成山卫的马山天鹅湖了。马山天鹅湖是一个椭圆型的泻湖，被长5000多米、宽100多米的弯月形金色沙坝截取而成。水面面积5平方公里，湖内水质清洁明澈，域流宽敞，海水在湖中形成环流，海苔丛生，饵料丰富。周围尽是绿树与芦苇，便于隐蔽，很得天鹅的青睐。每到冬季，蔚蓝的海面上，洁白的大天鹅，或追逐嬉水，或引吭高歌，或凌空翱翔，或翩翩起舞，使人如临仙境，如醉如痴。
天鹅的家园
在许许多多的湖泊、沿海地区，为什么偏偏有这么多大天鹅相中了荣成、而且数量呈每年递增之势呢？除了这里有着适宜天鹅生活的优越自然环境外，显然与荣成人良好的生态环保意识是分不开的。在荣成，我们耳闻目睹了许多保护环境、保护天鹅的动人故事。
近年来，荣成市先后投资数十亿元进行城市建设，较好地改善了生态发展环境。在经济发展过程中，凡是有污染的项目，不论效益好坏，都决不允许上马，因环境因素先后拒批新上项目600多个。荣成市还利用市区西南200公顷芦苇湿地，开发建设了集污水处理和保护生态于一体的城市污水稳定塘――湿地复合系统处理工程，整个工程可达到2级处理程度，日处理污水能力达2万立方米，使城市污水经处理变清后达标排出入海，有效保护了当地的生态环境，水中生物和植物大量繁殖，生成了天鹅的美食大叶藻。每年都有大批天鹅及其他鸟类栖息在这里。为进一步加大对大天鹅等野生动物的保护力度，荣成市专门制定出台了一系列保护制度和规定，争取设立了省级大天鹅自然保护区、省级成山头海洋生态自然保护区以及桑沟湾自然保护区，并成立了野生动物保护协会。通过一系列行之有效的措施，为大天鹅等野生动物创造了良好的生活环境。
人与天鹅
爱护天鹅、保护环境已成为荣成人的自觉行为，为天鹅投食、救助伤病天鹅、观察研究、科学保护天鹅的事迹举不胜举。
退休教师李明伟义务观察、保护天鹅20多年，自愿当起“天鹅卫士”，每天利用业余时间到湖泊、海边、港口义务护理天鹅，被誉为“东方天鹅之父”。经过长期的观察，他终于掌握了天鹅的生活习性和活动规律。他撰写的《天鹅越冬地的新发现》一文以确凿的论证否定了以往天鹅冬季只在长江以南栖息的结论，为开发荣成天鹅湖保护区提出了很好的建议，在全国多家报刊转载，引起了国内外专家学者的注意，很多鸟类专家慕名而来，天鹅湖终于为全国所瞩目。李明伟还发起成立了天鹅义务保护协会，成员既有老教师、离退休老干部，又有军人、学生、个体工商户，这是全国首家群众性的天鹅义务保护协会。
在李明伟先生的引导下，1975年当地居民袁学顺一家也加入了义务保护天鹅的队伍，他的家则成了“家庭天鹅康复中心”，先后救护伤病天鹅300多只。2001年6月，在荣成市、新疆有关部门的支持下，袁学顺不远万里将他救治的两只天鹅带到新疆巴音布鲁克放飞，成为广为传颂的佳话。袁学顺和李明伟的事迹多次在中央电视台等各大媒体刊播。2003年11月，袁学顺以其保护天鹅的动人事迹走上人民大会堂领奖台，获得“福特汽车环保奖”之一的“福特百年特别奖――野生动物保护”类别一等奖。
优越的生态环境，不仅使大天鹅钟情天鹅湖，而且引来其他各种珍奇鸟类。每到冬季，上万只天鹅和丹顶鹤、鸳鸯、大雁、水鸭等数万只其它鸟类，相聚在荣成的马山泻湖、马道河、桑沟湾、八河港、绿岛湖等沿海天鹅湖，出现了仙子凌波、百鸟戏水的美丽景象。由于各种鸟类纷纷到来，如今的荣成天鹅湖已成了一年四季鸟语不断的“百鸟湖”。
Legend has it that when Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.C.), who united the warring states of China for the first time in history, came to Chengshantou, a scenic and cragged cape located in Rongcheng, he gave commands to move mountains to fill in the sea so as to construct bridge leading to the heavenly place where the elixir of life could be found.
He also ordered his wife to send his victuals to him whenever she heard the sound of a gong. One day, before noontime, some flying insects hit the gong and made it sound. Hearing that, his wife sent the dinner in a hurry. Upon seeing his wife sending him dinner before lunchtime, against his order, Qin was so angry that he ordered his wife to be killed. Qin’s wife feel so sad that she fell down in tears, which miraculously flowed and flowed, even from her decapitated body, turning eventually into a “Lake of Tears” on the low-lying area of the northern side of Mount Ma. The local people missed the kind and pretty wife of Qin, and tried to summon her pure spirit to come back to the mundane world. As a result of their fervent prayers, thousands of lovely white swans swarmed down from heaven to swim in the Lake of Tears, which was thereafter known as Swan Lake.
In China, there are three kinds, the whooper swans, the tundra swans, and the mute swans, all of which are under grade two national protection. The Swan Lake in Rongcheng provides a suitable natural habitat mainly for the whooper swans, which are one highest flying birds in the world. With a large body about 140 cm long, whooper swans have pure white feathers and long, curved necks. They prefer to rest in large lakes, ponds, and marshes, where aquatic plants provide abundant food. Besides, whooper swan also eats aquatic insects and mollusks.
Roncheng City is located at the eastern tip of Shandong Peninsula, a temperate zone featuring the humid monsoon climate. Thanks to this special coastal geographical location and favorable natural environment, tens of thousands of swans reside here from November to April every year to escape the frigid winters further north.
But China has numerous lakes and coastal regions, so why do so many swans favor Rongcheng? In fact, why do they come in ever-increasing numbers year after year? Besides the outstanding natural environment that caters to the living habits of the swans, the environmental friendly consciousness of the people of Rongcheng plays an important role. In Rongcheng, we heard and witnessed many moving stories concerning environmental protection and living with the swans.
In recent years, Rongcheng City has invested more than ten billion yuan in urban construction, which has greatly improved the social and economic environment; but, throughout this time, all projects that might pollute the environment are prohibited, even though they could produce monetary profits. This “environmental consciousness” protects the local ecological balance, which in turn assures that aquatic animals and plants have a good environment to propagate, thus producing abundant food for the swans.
For more than 20 years, Mr. Li Mingwei, a retired teacher, has been engaged in the observation and protection of the swans. Every day, in his spare time, he went to the lake, coast, and port to take care of the swans. Through years of patient observation, Mr. Li has come to understand profoundly the living habits and migration laws of the swans. His thesis, New Discoveries of Winter Habitat, with much authentic evidence and painstaking documentation, denies the former theory that the swans in China live through the winter only at the places south of the Yangtze River, providing positive advice for Rongcheng to further develop the Swan Lake Protection Area.