Qinghai Lake (Chinese: 青海湖) is the largest lake in China. Located in China's Qinghai province on an endorheic basin, Qinghai Lake is classified as a saline and alkaline lake. Both the current Chinese name "Qinghai" and the older Mongolian name Kokonur translate to "Blue Lake" or "Teal Sea" in English. Qinghai Lake is located about 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of the provincial capital of Xining at 3,205 m (10,515 feet) above sea level in a depression of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Twenty-three rivers and streams empty into Qinghai Lake, most of them seasonal. Five permanent streams provide 80% of total influx.
The lake has fluctuated in size, shrinking over much of the 20th century, but increasing since 2004. Despite its salinity, it has an abundance of fish, such as the edible naked carp (Gymnocypris przewalskii, huángyú (湟鱼)).
Famous quotes containing the word lake:
“They who know of no purer sources of truth, who have traced up its stream no higher, stand, and wisely stand, by the Bible and the Constitution, and drink at it there with reverence and humility; but they who behold where it comes trickling into this lake or that pool, gird up their loins once more, and continue their pilgrimage toward its fountain-head.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)