Qinghai Lake – Qinghai Province

Qinghai Lake is both the largest inland and the largest saltwater lake in China.
One of the best ways to explore Qinghai Lake is by renting a bicycle and riding around the area, experiencing the natural beauty up close and with relative efficiency.On the lake, you’ll find a number of tiny islands and a large mountain right in the center. On the outside of the lake, you’ll find many smaller lakes, rivers, snow-capped mountains, ancient pagodas, city ruins and lakeside towns.
The area is filled with scenic overlooks where you can gaze at the beauty of this naturally diverse place. Housing a large cache of wildlife, Qinghai Lake is also a haven for birdwatchers as more and more birds fly in each year.
There’s no bad time to visit Qinghai Lake. The scenery changes from lush and green during the warmer months to a winter wonderland during the colder months.Qinghai Lake is the largest inland and salt water lake in China, and provides important ecosystem services to beneficiaries. Economic valuation of wetland ecosystem services from Qinghai Lakecan reveal the direct contribution of lakeecosystems to beneficiaries using economic data, which can advance the incorporation of wetland protection of Qinghai Lake into economic tradeoffs and decision analyses. In this paper, we established a final ecosystem services valuation system based on the underlying ecological mechanisms and regional socio-economic conditions. We then evaluated the eco-economic value provided by the wetlands at Qinghai Lake to beneficiaries in 2012 using the market value method, replacement cost method, zonal travel cost method, and contingent valuation method.Qinghai Lake, also known by other names, is the largest lake in China. Located in an endorheic basin in Qinghai Province, to which it gave its name, Qinghai Lake is classified as an alkaline 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 4,317 km2 (1,667 sq mi), an average depth of 21 m (69 ft), and a maximum depth of 25.5 m (84 ft) in 2008.00000Qinghai Lake became isolated from the Yello.w River about 150,000 years ago.[14]00 0It has increased in salinity and basicity since the early Holoce,ne.[14],0
During the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), substantial numbers of Han Chinese lived in the Xining valley to the east.[7] In the 17th century, Mongolic-speaking Oirat and Khalkhatribals migrated to Qinghai and became known as Qinghai Mongols.[17] In 1724, the Qinghai Mongols led by Lobzang Danjin revolted against the Qing Dynasty. The Yongzheng Emperor, after putting down the rebellion, stripped away Qinghai's autonomy and imposed direct rule. Although some 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 and Han settlers to dilute the Mongols.[18]During Nationalist  rule (1928-1949), the Han formed a majority of Qinghai Province's residents, although Chinese Muslims (Hui) dominated the government.[19] The Kuomintang Hui general Ma Bufang, having invited Kazakh Muslims,[20] 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.[21]
After the 1949 Chinese revolution, refugees from the 1950s Anti-Rightist Movementsettled in the area west of Qinghai Lake.[7]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 2,057 kilograms per hectare (1,835 lb/acre) to 1,271 kg/ha (1,134 lb/acre) in 1987. In 2001, the State Forestry Administration of China launched the "Retire Cropland, Restore Grasslands"  campaign and started confiscating Tibetan and Mongol pastoralists' guns, allegedly in order to preserve the endangered Przewalski's gazelle.[7]
Prior to the 1960s, 108 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 10 centimetres (3.9 in), which was reversed at a rate of 10 cm/year (3.9 in/year) 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.[22]Surface area decreased 11.7% in the period from 1908 to 2000.[23] During that period, from 1908 to 2000.[23] 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 48.9-square-kilometre (18.9 sq mi) Gahai Lake  Gǎhǎi) appeared in the north; Shadao Lake Shādǎo), covering an area of 19.6 km2(7.6 sq mi) to the northeast, followed in the 1980s, along with Haiyan Lake Hǎiyàn) of 112.5 km2 (43.4 sq mi).[24] Another 96.7 km2 (37.3 sq mi) daughter lake split off in 2004. In addition, the lake has now split into half a dozen more small lakes at the border. The water surface has shrunk by 312 km2(120 sq mi) over the last three decades.[25]

WildlifeEdit

A bird islandThe lake is located at the crossroads of several 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.
There are five native fish species: The edible naked carp (Gymnocypris przewalskii,  huángyú),[26] which is the most abundant in the lake, and four stoneloaches (Triplophysa stolickai, T. dorsonotata, T. scleroptera and T. siluroides).[14] Other Yellow River fish species occurred in the lake, but they disappeared with the increasing salinity and basicity, beginning in the early Holocene.

CultureEdit

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) which historically was home to a Buddhist monastery.[27] No boat was used during summer, so monks and pilgrims travelled to and fro 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."[28]up It is also known as the place to which Gushri Khan and other Khoshut Mongolsmigrated during the 1620s.[29]
The lake is circumnavigated by pilgrims, mainly Tibetan Buddhists, especially every Horse Year of the 12-year cycle. Przhevalskyestimated it would take about 8 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.