View source for Qinghai Lake

{{short description|Largest lake in China}}
{{hatnote|'Koko Nur' redirects here. It also formerly referred to the lands around the lake, now making up parts of China's [[Qinghai Province]].}}
{{Infobox body of water
|name=Qinghai Lake
|image=qinghai lake.jpg
|caption=From space (November 1994). North is to the left.
|image_bathymetry=
|caption_bathymetry=
|location=[[Qinghai]]
|coords={{coord|37|00|N|100|08|E|region:CN-63_type:waterbody_scale:1000000|display=it}}
|pushpin_map=Qinghai#China
|type=[[Endorheic]] [[saline lake|salt lake]]
|inflow=
|outflow=
|catchment=
|basin_countries = [[China]]
|length=
|width=
|area={{convert|4186|km2|abbr=on}} <small>(2004)</small><br/>{{convert|4489|km2|abbr=on}} <small>(2007)</small><ref name=asdf/><br/>{{convert|4543|km2|abbr=on}} <small>(2020)</small><ref name=peoplecn>{{cite news|url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/local/2020-05/21/c_1126014169.htm|script-title=zh:青海湖面积较上年同期增大28平方公里|work=[[Xinhua News]]|date=21 May 2020|access-date=13 August 2020|archive-date=4 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504132902/http://www.xinhuanet.com/local/2020-05/21/c_1126014169.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|depth=
|max-depth={{convert|32.8|m|abbr=on}}
|volume=
{{convert|108|km3|cumi|abbr=on}}
|residence_time=
|shore=
|elevation={{convert|3260|m|abbr=on}}
|islands=Sand Island, Bird Islands
|cities=[[Haiyan County, Qinghai|Haiyan County]]
|reference=<ref name=asdf>{{cite web|url=http://www.cciced.org/2008-07/03/content_15925312.htm|title=Area of Qinghai Lake Has Increased Continuously|publisher=China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development|access-date=August 28, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828130842/http://www.cciced.org/2008-07/03/content_15925312.htm|archive-date=August 28, 2008}}</ref>
}}
'''Qinghai Lake''' <!--Chinese in infoboxes; see WP:MOS-ZH-->  is the [[list of lakes by area|largest]] [[lakes of China|lake]] in [[China]]. Located in an [[endorheic basin]] in [[Qinghai Province]], to which it gave its name, Qinghai Lake is classified as an [[alkaline lake|alkaline]] [[saline lake|salt lake]]. The lake has fluctuated in size, shrinking over much of the 20th century but increasing since 2004. It had a surface area of {{Convert|4317|km2|abbr=on}}, an average depth of {{Convert|21|m|abbr=on}}, and a maximum depth of {{Convert|25.5|m|abbr=on}} in 2008.

{{anchor|Etymology|Toponymy|Name}}

==Names==
{{Infobox Chinese
|c={{linktext|靑海|湖}} or {{linktext|青海|湖}} 
|p=Qīnghǎi Hú
|mi={{IPAc-cmn|q|ing|1|h|ai|3|-|h|u|2}}
|w=Ch'ing-hai Hu
|l={{nowrap|[[Blue–green distinction in language|Grue]] Sea Lake}}<br />Blue Sea Lake
|j = Tsing<sup>1</sup>-hoi<sup>2</sup> Wu<sup>4</sup>
|mon={{linktext|Хөх нуур}}
|mong=[[File:Koke naghur.svg|20px|Köke Naγur]]
|monr=Köke naɣur
|mnc=ᡥᡠᡥᡠ ᠨᠣᠣᡵ
|mnc_rom=Huhu Noor 
|tib={{linktext|མཚོ}}་{{linktext|སྔོན་པོ}}་<br />{{linktext|མཚོ}}་{{linktext|ཁྲི}}་{{linktext|ཤོར}}་{{linktext|རྒྱལ}}་{{linktext|མོ}}་
|wylie=Mtsho Sngon-po<br />Mtsho Khri-shor Rgyal-mo
}}
{{Infobox Chinese|title=Former names
|altname=Xihai
|c2={{linktext|西海}}
|p2=Xī Hǎi|w2=Hsi Hai|psp2=|l2=Western Sea
|j2=Sai<sup>1</sup> Hoi<sup>2</sup>
}}
''Qinghai'' is the [[Chinese tones|atonal]] [[pinyin]] [[romanization of Chinese|romanisation]] of the [[Standard Chinese|Mandarin]] pronunciation of the [[Chinese language|Chinese]] name {{nowrap|{{lang|zh-hant|{{linktext|青海}}}}.}} Although modern Chinese distinguishes between the colors blue and green, [[Blue–green distinction in language|this distinction]] did not exist in [[classical Chinese]]. The color {{lang|zh-hant|{{linktext|青}}}} (''qīng'') was [[Blue–green distinction in language#Chinese|a "single" color inclusive of both blue and green as separate shades]].{{sfnp|Hamer|2016}} The name is thus variously translated as "Blue Sea",{{sfnp|''Columbia Encycl.''|2001}} "Green Sea",<ref>{{citation|last=Lorenz|first=Andreas|contribution-url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-journey-along-china-s-yellow-river-a-835888.html|contribution=Old and New China Meet along the Yellow River|title=Der Spiegel|url=https://www.spiegel.de|publisher=Spiegel Verlag|location=Hamburg|date=31 May 2012}}.</ref> "Blue-Green Sea",{{sfnp|Bell|2017|p=4}} "Blue/Green Sea",{{sfnp|Zhu & al.|1999|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=FfdXAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA374 374]}} etc. For a time after its wars with the [[Xiongnu]], [[Han dynasty|Han China]] connected the lake with the [[Four Seas|legendary "Western Sea"]] assumed to balance the [[East China Sea]], but as the Han Empire expanded further west into the [[Tarim Basin]] other lakes assumed the title.<ref name="Harris"/> The former names '''Chinghai''', '''Ch'ing-hai''', or '''Ch'inghai Lake''' are based on the [[Wade–Giles romanisation]] of the same Chinese name.{{sfnp|Stanford|1917|p=[https://archive.org/stream/cu31924023258241#page/n63/mode/2up 21]}}

Qinghai Lake is also known as {{nowrap|'''Koko Nor'''}}{{sfnp|Stanford|1917|p=[https://archive.org/stream/cu31924023258241#page/n63/mode/2up 21]}} from its [[Classical Mongolian language|Classical Mongolian]] name {{lang|mn|{{linktext|ᠬᠥᠬᠡ ᠨᠠᠭᠤᠷ}}}}. The modern Mongolian form of the same name is {{translit|mn|Höhnuur}} ({{lang|mn|Хөхнуур}}). Similar to Chinese, Classical Mongolian used {{lang|mn|ᠬᠥᠬᠡ}} inclusive of both the color of the sky and fresh grass,<ref>{{citation |last1=Purev |first1=Enkhjargal |last2=Tsend |first2=Oyunsuren |last3=Bazarjav |first3=Purevsuren |last4=Khishigsuren |first4=Temuulen |display-authors=1 |ref={{harvid|Purev & al.|2023}} |journal=Voprosy Onomastiki |script-journal=ru:Вопросы Ономастики |language=en |trans-journal=Problems of Onomastics |title=Color Terms in Mongolian Place Names: A Typological Perspective |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=140–155 |publisher=Ural University Press |location=Ekaterinburg |date=2023 |doi=10.15826/vopr_onom.2023.20.1.008 |doi-access=free}}.</ref> but now uses {{lang|mn|{{linktext|xöx}}}} specifically for deep or dark blue distinguished both from light blue ({{lang|mn|цэнхэр}}, {{translit|mn|tsenher}}) and green ({{lang|mn|ногоон}}, {{translit|mn|nogoon}}). Classical Mongolian also did not distinguish between lakes and larger bodies of water. The Chinese name, using "sea" rather than "lake," is thus an overly literal [[calque]] of this name,{{sfnp|Bell|2017|p=4}}{{sfnp|Huang|2018|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=xoRXDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA58 58]}} used by the [[Upper Mongols]], some of whom made up the local ruling class during the standardization of western Chinese toponyms in the [[Qing dynasty]].{{sfnp|''Xiyu Tongwen Zhi''|1763}} Similar use of the Chinese word for "sea" to translate Mongolian lake toponyms can be seen elsewhere around Qinghai, as with [[Lake Heihai]] ("Black Sea") in the [[Kunlun Mountains]]. It is also the origin of one of the common names for the lake in English (Kokonor Lake). 

The Tibetans also separately calqued the name as {{translit|bo|Mtsho-sngon-po}} or {{translit|bo|Tso ngönpo}} ({{lang|bo|{{linktext|མཚོ}}་{{linktext|སྔོན་པོ}}་}}, "Blue Lake or Sea").

==Geography==
Qinghai Lake lies about {{Convert|100|km|sp=us}} west of [[Xining]] in a hollow of the [[Tibetan Plateau]] at {{Convert|3205|m|sp=us}} above [[sea level]].<ref>Buffetrille 1994, p. 2; Gruschke 2001, pp. 90 ff.</ref> It lies between [[Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture]] and [[Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture]] in northeastern Qinghai in [[Northwest China]]. The lake has fluctuated in size, shrinking over much of the 20th century but increasing since 2004. It had a surface area of {{Convert|4317|km2|sp=us}}, an average depth of {{Convert|21|m|sp=us}}, and a maximum depth of {{Convert|25.5|m|abbr=on}} in 2008.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.1117/1.3601363|title=Water level variation of Lake Qinghai from satellite and ''in situ'' measurements under climate change|journal=Journal of Applied Remote Sensing|volume=5|pages=053532|year=2011|last1=Zhang|first1=Guoqing|issue=1|bibcode=2011JARS....5a3532Z|s2cid=53463010}}</ref>

Twenty-three rivers and streams empty into Qinghai Lake, most of them seasonal. Five permanent streams provide 80% of the total influx.<ref name="Rhode">{{cite journal|last1=Rhode|first1=David|author2=Ma Haizhou|author3=David B. Madsen|author4=P. Jeffrey Brantingham|author5=Steven L. Forman|author6=John W. Olsen|year=2009|title=Paleoenvironmental and archaeological investigations at Qinghai Lake, western China: Geomorphic and chronometric evidence of lake level history|journal=Quaternary International|page=3|url=http://paleo.sscnet.ucla.edu/RhodeEtAl-QI-2009.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100709225202/http://paleo.sscnet.ucla.edu/RhodeEtAl-QI-2009.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 9, 2010|doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2009.03.004|access-date=2010-03-18|volume=218|issue=1–2}}</ref> The relatively low inflow and high evaporation rates have turned Qinghai saline and alkaline; the salt concentration is presently about 1.4% by weight ([[seawater]] has a salt concentration of about 3.5%), with a [[pH]] of 9.3.<ref name=Zhang2015/> It has increased in salinity and [[Base (chemistry)|basicity]] since the early [[Holocene]].<ref name="Zhang2015" />

At the tip of the peninsula on the western side of the lake are Cormorant Island and Egg Island, collectively known as the Bird Islands.

Qinghai Lake became isolated from the [[Yellow River]] about 150,000 years ago.<ref name=Zhang2015/> If the water level were to rise by approximately {{Convert|50|m|sp=us}}, the connection to the Yellow River would be reestablished via the low pass to the east.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

18,000 years ago, just after the end of the [[Last Glacial Maximum]], the lake level of Lake Qinghai was around 30 metres lower than today. Between 15,600 and 10,700 years ago, lake levels [[secular trend|secularly]] increased to around 10 metres lower than the present lake level, after which they declined slightly until around 9,200 years ago, when they began to rise again. Around 5,900 years ago, lake levels reached a peak of a few metres higher than today, before declining again amidst a regional cooling and drying trend until 1,400 years ago, when they were less than 10 metres lower than average modern levels. They then began to rise once more until reaching their present level.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Zheng |last2=Zhang |first2=Fan |last3=Li |first3=Xiangzhong |last4=Cao |first4=Yunning |last5=Hu |first5=Jing |last6=Wang |first6=Huangye |last7=Liu |first7=Hongxuan |last8=Li |first8=Ting |last9=Liu |first9=Weiguo |date=May 2020 |title=Changes in the depth of Lake Qinghai since the last deglaciation and asynchrony between lake depth and precipitation over the northeastern Tibetan Plateau |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921818120300461 |journal=[[Global and Planetary Change]] |volume=188 |article-number=103156 |doi=10.1016/j.gloplacha.2020.103156 |bibcode=2020GPC...18803156W |s2cid=216231872 |access-date=9 November 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Climate===
The area around Qinghai Lake has a dry-winter [[Subarctic climate|subalpine climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]] ''Dwc''), typical of large areas of Tibet. Winters are frigid but extremely dry, so that the lake often remains frozen for three months continuously,<ref name=IBST/> whilst summers feature pleasant afternoons, generally cold mornings, and frequent showers.

{{Weather box
| width = auto
| location = Qinghai Lake (1981−2010 normals, extremes 1981–present)
| metric first = yes
| single line = yes
| Jan record high C = 6.6
| Feb record high C = 8.8
| Mar record high C = 13.4
| Apr record high C = 19.1
| May record high C = 22.8
| Jun record high C = 23.7
| Jul record high C = 25.4
| Aug record high C = 24.2
| Sep record high C = 21.2
| Oct record high C = 17.5
| Nov record high C = 12.4
| Dec record high C = 7.2
| Jan record low C = -26.9
| Feb record low C = -25.8
| Mar record low C = -23.6
| Apr record low C = -11.5
| May record low C = -9.9
| Jun record low C = -1.4
| Jul record low C = 0.1
| Aug record low C = -0.8
| Sep record low C = -3.9
| Oct record low C = -10.9
| Nov record low C = -20.0
| Dec record low C = -24.5
| Jan high C = -5.2
| Feb high C = -2.0
| Mar high C = 3.2
| Apr high C = 7.9
| May high C = 12.1
| Jun high C = 14.9
| Jul high C = 17.1
| Aug high C = 17.0
| Sep high C = 12.6
| Oct high C = 7.7
| Nov high C = 2.2
| Dec high C = -2.4
| year high C = 
| Jan mean C = -12.3
| Feb mean C = -9.5
| Mar mean C = -4.1
| Apr mean C = 1.3
| May mean C = 6.2
| Jun mean C = 9.4
| Jul mean C = 11.7
| Aug mean C = 11.3
| Sep mean C = 7.0
| Oct mean C = 1.8
| Nov mean C = -4.4
| Dec mean C = -8.9
| year mean C = 
| Jan low C = -17.9
| Feb low C = -15.5
| Mar low C = -9.9
| Apr low C = -4.3
| May low C = 0.7
| Jun low C = 4.4
| Jul low C = 6.5
| Aug low C = 5.9
| Sep low C = 2.6
| Oct low C = -2.5
| Nov low C = -9.0
| Dec low C = -13.9
| year low C = 
| precipitation colour = green
| Jan precipitation mm = 1
| Feb precipitation mm = 2
| Mar precipitation mm = 6
| Apr precipitation mm = 17
| May precipitation mm = 45
| Jun precipitation mm = 65
| Jul precipitation mm = 87
| Aug precipitation mm = 85
| Sep precipitation mm = 54
| Oct precipitation mm = 20
| Nov precipitation mm = 3
| Dec precipitation mm = 1
| Jan humidity = 48
| Feb humidity = 44
| Mar humidity = 46
| Apr humidity = 53
| May humidity = 61
| Jun humidity = 70
| Jul humidity = 73
| Aug humidity = 73
| Sep humidity = 72
| Oct humidity = 60
| Nov humidity = 47
| Dec humidity = 49
| source 1 = China Meteorological Data Service Center<ref name=IBST>{{cite web |url = http://data.cma.cn/data/weatherBk.html 
| script-title=zh:中国地面气候标准值月值(1981-2010) 
|publisher = China Meteorological Data Service Center 
|language = zh-cn
| access-date = December 15, 2022}}</ref>all-time Nov high<ref>{{cite tweet| user=yangyubin1998 | number=1986453803571552496 |title=Unusually warm weather in Northwest China continues. Qinghaihu, Maqu & Yuexi broke their November Tmax records, and 48 other stations also broke their November Tmin records! Record-breaking areas are expected to shift to southern China over this weekend. @extremetemps }}</ref>
| source 2 = www.yr.no (temperature averages)<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.yr.no/place/China/Qinghai/Qinghai_Lake/statistics.html
|title=Climate: Qinghai Lake, China
|access-date=January 27, 2018
|archive-date=January 11, 2019
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190111055315/https://www.yr.no/place/China/Qinghai/Qinghai_Lake/statistics.html
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>
| source = 
}}

==History==
[[File:Txu-pclmaps-oclc-22834566 g-8b.jpg|left|thumb|Map including Qinghai Lake]]
During the [[Han dynasty]] (206 BCE – 220 CE), substantial numbers of [[Han Chinese]] lived in the [[Xining]] valley to the east.<ref name="Harris">{{harvp|Harris|2008|pp=130–132}}.</ref> In the 17th century, [[Mongolic language|Mongolic]]-speaking [[Oirats|Oirat]] and [[Khalka Mongols|Khalkha]] tribals migrated to Qinghai and became known as [[Qinghai Mongols]].<ref>{{harvp|Sanders|2010|pp=2–3, 386, 600}}.</ref> In 1724, the Qinghai Mongols led by {{ILL|Lobzang Danjin|nl}} revolted against the [[Qing dynasty]]. The [[Yongzheng Emperor]], after putting down the rebellion, stripped away Qinghai's autonomy and imposed direct rule. Although some [[Tibetan people|Tibetans]] lived around the lake, the Qing maintained an administrative division from the time of [[Güshi Khan]] between the Dalai Lama's western realm (slightly smaller than the current [[Tibet Autonomous Region]]) and the Tibetan-inhabited areas in the east. Yongzheng also sent [[Manchu people|Manchu]] and Han settlers to dilute the Mongols.{{sfnp|Perdue|2005|pp=310–312}}

During [[Nationalist government|Nationalist rule]] (1928–1949), the Han formed a majority of Qinghai Province's residents, although Chinese Muslims ([[Hui people|Hui]]) dominated the government.{{sfnp|Hutchings|2003|p=351}} The [[Kuomintang]] Hui general [[Ma Bufang]], having invited Kazakh Muslims,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g3C2B9oXVbQC|title=Dilemmas The Mongols at China's edge: history and the politics of national unity|author=Uradyn Erden Bulag|year=2002|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|page=52|isbn=978-0-7425-1144-6|access-date=2010-06-28}}</ref> joined the governor of Qinghai and other high ranking Qinghai and national government officials in conducting a joint Kokonuur Lake Ceremony to worship the God of the Lake. During the ritual, the Chinese national anthem was sung and all participants bowed to a Portrait of [[Kuomintang]] founder [[Sun Yat-sen]] as well as to the God of the Lake. Participants, both Han and Muslim, made offerings to the god.<ref>{{harvp|Uradyn Erden Bulag|2002|p=51}}.</ref>

[[File:Qinghai Lake 2016.jpg|thumb|View of Qinghai Lake, 2016]]
After the [[Chinese Revolution (1949)|1949 Chinese revolution]], refugees from the 1950s [[Anti-Rightist Movement]] settled in the area west of Qinghai Lake.<ref name="Harris"/> After the [[Chinese economic reform]] in the 1980s, drawn by new business opportunities, migration to the area increased, causing ecological stresses. Fresh grass production in [[Gangcha County]] north of the lake declined from a mean of {{Convert|2057|kg/ha}} to {{Convert|1271|kg/ha|abbr=on}} in 1987. In 2001, the [[State Forestry Administration of China]] launched the "Retire Cropland, Restore Grasslands" ({{lang|zh|退耕，还草}}) campaign and started confiscating Tibetan and Mongol pastoralists' guns to preserve the endangered [[Przewalski's gazelle]].<ref name="Harris"/>

Prior to the 1960s, 108&nbsp;freshwater rivers emptied into the lake. As of 2003, 85% of the river mouths have dried up, including the lake's largest tributary, the Buha River. In between 1959 and 1982, there had been an annual water level drop of {{Convert|10|cm|sp=us}}, which was reversed at a rate of {{Convert|10|cm/year|abbr=on}} between 1983 and 1989, but has continued to drop since. The [[Chinese Academy of Sciences]] reported in 1998 the lake was again threatened with loss of surface area due to livestock over-grazing, land reclamations, and natural causes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tibet.ca/en/wtnarchive/1998/3/27_2.html|work=World Tibet Network News|date=March 27, 1998|title=China's Qinghai Lake drying up|access-date=May 29, 2004|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040529082121/http://www.tibet.ca/en/wtnarchive/1998/3/27_2.html|archive-date=May 29, 2004}}</ref> Surface area decreased 11.7% in the period from 1908 to 2000.<ref>[http://fpeng.peopledaily.com.cn/200111/04/eng20011104_83871.html ''People's Daily'']. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111070823/http://fpeng.peopledaily.com.cn/200111/04/eng20011104_83871.html |date=2016-11-11 }}</ref> During that period, higher lake floor areas were exposed and numerous water bodies separated from the rest of the main lake. In the 1960s, the {{Convert|48.9|km2|adj=on|sp=us}} [[Gahai Lake]] (尕海, ''Gǎhǎi'') appeared in the north; [[Shadao Lake]] (沙岛, ''Shādǎo''), covering an area of {{Convert|19.6|km2|abbr=on}} to the northeast, followed in the 1980s, along with [[Haiyan Lake]] (海晏, ''Hǎiyàn'') of {{Convert|112.5|km2|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fpeng.peopledaily.com.cn/200110/26/eng20011026_83241.html|title=Two New Saltwater Lakes Separate from Qinghai Lake|website=fpeng.peopledaily.com|date=2001-10-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031107233609/http://fpeng.peopledaily.com.cn/200110/26/eng20011026_83241.html|archive-date=2003-11-07}}</ref> Another {{Convert|96.7|km2|abbr=on}} daughter lake split off in 2004. In addition, the lake has now split into half a dozen more small lakes at the border. Qinghai Provincial Remote Sensing Center, attributed the separation of Qinghai Lake to shrinkage of the water surface as a result of a lowered water level and desertification in the region. The water surface has shrunk by {{Convert|312|km2|abbr=on}} over the last three decades.<ref>[http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-02/24/content_308805.htm Qinghai Lake splits due to deterioration]. Chinadaily.com.cn (2004-02-24). Retrieved on 2010-09-27.</ref>

==Wildlife==
[[File:Bird Island, Qinghai Lake.jpg|thumb|A bird island]]
The lake is located at the crossroads of several [[Flyway|bird migration routes]] across Asia. Many species use Qinghai as an intermediate stop during migration. As such, it is a focal point in global concerns regarding avian influenza ([[H5N1]]), as a major outbreak here could spread the virus across Europe and Asia, further increasing the chances of a pandemic. Minor outbreaks of H5N1 have already been identified at the lake. The Bird Islands have been sanctuaries of the [[Qinghai Lake Natural Protection Zone]] since 1997.{{citation needed |date=February 2025}}

There are five native fish species: The edible [[naked carp]] (''Gymnocypris przewalskii'', {{zh|labels=no|p=huángyú|s=湟鱼}}),{{sfnp|Su|2008|p=19}} which is the most abundant in the lake, and four [[Nemacheilidae|stoneloaches]] (''[[Triplophysa stolickai]]'', ''[[Triplophysa dorsonotata|T. dorsonotata]]'', ''[[Triplophysa scleroptera|T. scleroptera]]'' and ''[[Triplophysa siluroides|T. siluroides]]'').<ref name=Zhang2015>{{harvp|Zhang & al.|2015}}.</ref> Other [[Yellow River]] fish species occurred in the lake, but they disappeared with the increasing salinity and [[Base (chemistry)|basicity]], beginning in the early [[Holocene]].<ref name=Zhang2015/>

==Culture==
There is an island in the western part of the lake with a temple and a few hermitages called "Mahādeva, the Heart of the Lake", "''mTsho snying Ma hā de wa''" in Tibetan, which historically was home to a Buddhist monastery. The temple was also used for religious purposes and ceremonies.{{sfnp|Gruschke|2001}} No boat was used during summer, so monks and pilgrims traveled to and from only when the lake froze over in winter. A nomad described the size of the island by saying that: "if in the morning a she-goat starts to browse the grass around it clockwise and its kid anti-clockwise, they will meet only in the night, which shows how big the island is."{{sfnp|Buffetrille|1994|pp=2–3}} It is also known as the place to which Gushri Khan and other [[Khoshut|Khoshut Mongols]] migrated during the 1620s.{{sfnp|Shakabpa|1962}}

The lake is currently circumnavigated by pilgrims, mainly Tibetan Buddhists, especially every Horse Year of the [[Tibetan calendar#Years|12-year cycle]]. [[Nikolay Przhevalsky]] estimated it would take about eight days by horse or 15 walking to circumambulate the lake, but pilgrims report it takes about 18 days on horseback, and one took 23 days walking to complete the circuit.{{sfnp|Buffetrille|1994|p=2}}

== In popular media ==

=== Films ===

* ''[[The Beautiful Kokonor Lake]]'' (青海湖畔, Qīnghǎi húpàn), a 2017 Chinese film directed by [[Shen Xinghao]], starring Bai En, [[Irina Kaptelova]], Jiang Ping, Yi Qin, Ma Su, Su Xin, Tong Rui Xin, Huang Yao.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7018652/fullcredits/ |title=The Beautiful Kokonor Lake (2017) - Full cast & crew - IMDb |language=en-US |access-date=2025-08-05 |via=www.imdb.com}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Rapeseed at Qinghai Lake.jpg|[[Rapeseed]] fields
Qinghai Lake 2016 05.jpg|Grassland near the lake
Qinghai Lake 2016 01.jpg|Gya'yi Monastery ({{lang|bo|རྒྱ་ཡེ་དགོན}}) at Qinghai Lake
青海湖边藏民帐篷 - panoramio.jpg|Yurt on the shore
</gallery>

==See also==
{{portal|Lakes|China}}
* [[Qinghai Lake railway station]]
* [[Tour of Qinghai Lake]]
* [[North West Nuclear Weapons Research and Design Academy]]
* [[Chinese replenishment ship Qinghaihu|CNS Qinghaihu]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
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==External links==
* {{commons category-inline|Qinghai Lake|Lake Qinghai}}
* {{in lang|zh}} [http://www.qhh.gov.cn/ Qinghai Lake Protection and Utilization Administration Bureau] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226192854/http://www.qhh.gov.cn/ |date=2018-12-26 }} (official)
* {{in lang|zh}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20090725081402/http://www.qhhnd.cn/ Qinghai Lake Tourism and Culture Network] (official)
* [http://www.china.org.cn/english/16232.htm More Birds in Qinghai Lake] (Eastday.com.cn 07/17/2001)
* {{Cite Americana|wstitle=Koko-nor|short=x}}

{{National parks of China}}
{{Qinghai topics}}

{{Lakes of China}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Lakes of China]]
[[Category:Lakes of Qinghai]]
[[Category:Shrunken lakes]]
[[Category:National parks of China|Qinghai]]
[[Category:Amdo]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Qinghai]]
[[Category:Parks in Qinghai]]