Qinghai Lake in Xining City of Qinghai Province: An inland sea
The Qinghai Lake is China's largest inland lake and its largest salt-water lake. It was created, some 40 million years ago, because of the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates and the lifting of the Himalayan Sea to create the mountain chain. Being 3,260 meters above sea level, and with a circumference of 360 kilometers, the lake has a water area of 4,340 square kilometers and contains 77.8 billion cubic meters of water. It is encircled by mountains on all sides---- the Datong Mountain in the north, the South Qinghai Mountain in the south, the Xiangpi Mountain in the west and the Sun and Moon Mountain in the east. The east-west flowing Daotang River empties into the lake.
In history, people referred to the Qinghai Lake as the ''West Sea'', while the Tibetans, Mongolians and the ancient Beihe tribe all had their own names for the lake. Western Queen Mother was said to be the female chieftain of the ancient Qiang tribe who lived in the lake area 3,000 years ago. Western Queen Mother is seen as the goddess of the lake and the myriads of migrating birds that keep returning there year after year are the same birds that kept a lookout for King Mu of Zhou. According to historical documents, many emperors, starting with Tang Dynasty rulers, came here to offer sacrifices and erect memorial tablets to show their respect for the lake. In the eighth century, the Tang Emperor Xuanzong gave the god of the lake the title ''Duke of Guangrun'' and formally named the water Qinghai Lake. Lake worship ceremonies became regular. Now the ceremony has returned, but as a folk cultural activity.
The Qinghai Lake water is by no means a single color----at different times of day, during different seasons, and when viewed from different angles, its water appear in different colors----light green, blue, green, grey, orange, yellow...... So wide a range of different colors in a single lake casts light on why it was referred to as the ''Fairy Sea'' during the Han Dynasty (206 BC—220 AD) some two thousand years ago and why it was described as ''a scene that rightly belongs in Heaven.''
Equally interesting is the hill, known as Haixin, or Mid-lake Island, right in the heart of the lake. With an area of one square kilometer, this island stands over 30 kilometers distant from the south shore, measures 2.3 kilometers from east to west and 0.8 kilometers from north to south. Its top rises a few dozen meters above the surface of the water. The strong wind on the lake, as sharp as a knife, has carved the rocks into pointed pagoda shapes. The face is that adequate snowfall in winter and spring and ample precipitation in summer and autumn provide plentiful water resources for grass around the lake, making it a vast and fertile grazing pasture.
There are three other islets in the lake. Actually, they are three huge rocks. Their distance from the shore has so far protected the islets from human intrusion and allowed them to remain bird paradise. The most charming islands in the lake are the Egg Island and the Haixipi Island, both lying in the northwest of the lake, not very far from the oasis of Buh River, the largest of its kind, whose water empties into the lake. Facing each other, the two islands are also called ''Bird Islands'' because of the large number of birds residing on them.
The Egg Island, also known as the Lesser West Hill, rises barely 7.6 meters above the water level. Small as it is, it is home to the greatest number of birds, over a hundred thousand of them, including the bar-headed goose, great black-headed gull and redneck gull. Every spring, huge flocks of these birds come to the traditional home of theirs to build nests and raise their chicks. The whole islet is densely populated with birds and many bird eggs have given rise to its name.
The Haixipi Islet, high in the east and low in the west, is four times the size of the Egg Island, roughly 4.6 square kilometers. On its eastern side edge, a huge rock stands over the water like a great bell, its back thickly covered with cormorant nests. It looks just like a cormorant fortress in the Qinghai Lake.
The majority of the populations of the Bird Island are birds rather than human residents. With the coming of spring and of warm air currents from the Indian Ocean, birds from the island of South Asia fly north across the Himalayas during their annual migration. For many the Qinghai Lake is their destination and the Bird Island is paradise for them. For as far as the eye can see, there is the spectacular of thick flocks of birds wheeling through the air, busy hunting food, building nests, laying and hatching eggs. This unique sight has made the island the most popular tourist spot on the Qinghai Lake.
The main food for these birds is a kind of carp that thrives in the waters of the Qinghai Lake; it is unique to the lake and famous for its tenderness and flavor. The lake is surrounded by vast expanses of pastureland where herds of sheep and cattle graze. Generation after generation of Tibetan people lives around this lake.