1930, Zhou Cangbai, a national capitalist who was then the president of Hankou Branch of Shanghai Commercial Savings Bank, was very anxious when he saw that Wuhan citizens were addicted to opium and gambling. In order to keep the citizens fit, he invested most of his income in the construction of "Guang Hai Agricultural Park" on the west bank of East Lake. A nursery, a peach grove, a zoo, a swan pond for fish watching, a rice workshop and a spice workshop have been developed and built in Guang Hai Agricultural Park. Its main function is to provide Wuhan citizens with a place for leisure and entertainment. Wuhan citizens can exercise and have fun in the "Guang Hai Agricultural Park", and at the same time, they can also carry out agricultural production and plant flowers, trees and fruits. At that time, Guang Hai Agricultural Park became a "city park" and was very popular with the masses.
1938 10, Wuhan was occupied by the Japanese army, and Zhou Cangbai was forced to move to Chongqing, and the management of Guang Hai Farm was entrusted to others. 1942, Japanese invaders forcibly occupied Guang Hai Agricultural Park, destroying some recreational facilities, orchards and houses. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Zhou Cangbai returned to Wuhan and tried his best to restore Guang Hai Farm. Due to the national turmoil and his own economic restrictions, the scale of Guang Hai's farm is always smaller than that of that year. 1949, Zhou Cangbai (then vice chairman of CPPCC, later vice minister of industry) offered Guang Hai Farm to the country. Guang Hai Farm was immediately renamed Donghu Park, and the East Lake Construction Committee was established, with Zhou Cangbai as the vice chairman and Tao Zhu, then director of the Political Department of the Central South Military Region, as the chairman. 1952, the construction of East Lake Scenic Area was in full swing.