Qinghai Lake

　　Qinghai Lake is the largest endorheic lake and salt-water lake in China. Its voluminous and misty scenery likes a tear on the surface of the earth.

　　Located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Qinghai Lake has a acreage of 4456 sq.km and perimeter of 360km, which is more than two time of the famous Tai Lake. The average depth of Qinghai Lake is about 16m, with the deepest point to 28m. The poundage reaches 71.9 billion stere. The altitude of Lake Surface is 3260m, which approximates to two height of Mount Tai. The weather is very cool here due to the high altitude. Even in midsummer, the average temperature is just 15 degree centigrade. It’s a perfect resort for passing the summer in a leisurely way.

　　Qinghai Lake is on the northeast of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The lake is surrounded by four lofty mountains, with Datong Mountain on its north, Riyue Mountain on its east, Qinghainan Mountain on the south and Xiangpi Mountain on the west. The altitude of these four mountains is from 3600km to 5000km. These four mountains like four barriers carrying Qinghai Lake in their arms. From the root of mountain to the Lake, there is vast and flat grassland. The green and wavy lake is similar to a grand jade lying between mountains and grassland.

　　The shape of Qinghai Lake is like an ellipse, with 109km length from west to east and 65km width from north to south. It’s said that the lake seems to be a giant aspen leave floating on the grassland. The scenery of the lake is quite different in different seasons. In summer and autumn, trees grow flourish on mountains and grassland, which seems to be a thick carpet with colorful flowers as decoration. At the side of the lake, hordes of cows and horses drink water and eat grass. Large scale of farm lies beside the lake. The golden corn field likes wave when wind blows. In winter, the leaves begin to fall from trees. In Nov, the lake begins to freeze. At that time, the lake is like a mirror shining in the sunshine.

　　Qinghai Lake originally was a lake connected with sea. Because of the earth movement, mountains raised and the lake became an endorheic one. In the lake, there is a special kind of “Huang”fish. In order to adjust to the environment, the fish took off its squama. Its appearance is similar to carp with black dots on its back.

　　According to “Dange’er Ting Record” in 1910, Mongol caught this kind of fish and sold them to big cities including Xi’ning and Lanzhou. These fishes were made dry in summer and frozen in winter. Every year, they could catch about 200,000 fishes. From 1960 to 1962, China was in quite difficult period due to natural disaster. At that time, the fish became the main source of local people’s living. From Jun to Oct in 1960, people caught 1,060,000kg.The fishes grow very slow (it reaches 1kg after ten years) due to the low temperature of the lake. Nowadays, we need to control over-fishing and protect this species. Many travelers in Qinghai want to have a taste of this delicious fish.

　　Qinghai Lake had many names in ancient times, including “Xihai”, “Wuhai”, “Xianhai”, and “Xianshuihai”. Tibetan calls it “Cuowenbo”, which means green lake. Mongol calls it “Kukunuo’er”, which means blue sea. Beihe minority call it “Beiheqiang Hai”. Han minority call it “Xian Hai”. From Wei Dynasty (220AD), the name was changed to Qinghai Lake. In 1929, Qinghai Province was founded. Its name originated from the lake. Qinghai Lake is the symbol of the province and the pride of the people.

　　How does Qinghai Lake form? It’s believed that it was formed in 210,000 to 350,000 years ago. In far ancient, it was part of Mediterranean Sea. In the 3rd century, Alps Movement made Qinghai-Tibet Plateau rise. A large amount of sea fell down and formulated Qinghai Lake. At the beginning, the lake was connected with sea. The water ran from Qunai River to Huang River, and finally entered sea.

　　If you ever went to Guide County, you would know the earth movement more clearly. Some time later, another earth movement made Riyue Mountain rise. As a result, the only entrance of Qinghai Lake was closed. The mineral material at the bottom of the lake syncretizes into the water, which makes it a salt-water lake. There are about 30 rivers in the Lake District, including Buha(Mongolian word, means urus) River, Shaliu River, Ha’ergai River, Quanji River, Ji’ermeng River and etc. In Jun and Jul, Huang fishes travel backward and lay eggs at the beginning of river. The willows on the bank, beautiful flowers, and the cool weather together with picturesque scenery make it a perfect resort. There are five islands in the lake: Dan Island, Lugu Island, Haixinshan Island, Sankuaishi Island and Sha Island.

　　On the bank of Qinghai Lake, there are vast natural pastures, corn fields, and abundant mineral resources. The sufficient precipitation is crucial precondition of developing stockbreeding and agriculture. In ancient, it was the important producing area of livestock, including horses, cattle, sheep and etc. The local horses (called Qin Horse) were very famous for sturdiness and gallop since in Ch’un and Ch’iu Period (Spring and Autumn Period in 221BC). In following Sui (618AD) and Tang Dynasty (907AD), the local horses were mated with “Wusun Horse” and “Xuehan Horse”. Their physical strength improved a lot. There was a famous “horse and tea exchange” market in Huangyuan County on the way to Xi’ning. At that time, Tibetans used strong horses to exchange tea with local merchants. The trade was very busy. Nowadays, local people begin to invest in modern industry, like mines, feather factories, and mechanic repair services.