for me, it's rather distinct from ophelia and lady of shalott, which all have a lot of doomed lonely death associations? the lotus strewn lakes in the jiangnan like the lake tai, xihu/west lake etc or any given lake all tended to be hubs of social and economic activity. lots of women industriously working to gather the foodstuffs like lotus roots, fish, etc in boats (or bowls that were very big so you could sit in them :O), floating markets, etc.
People of a higher class than the gatherers would boat for leisure like punts in oxford, and you often have pleasure boats in these prosperous bustling cities, but in this poem everyone else has gone home from the parties etc and in the evening only the white waterbirds are left to be startled...www love this poetry form