Qinghai Lake is also known as "Kukunaoer", which means "blue sea" in Mongolian. It is located in the Qinghai Lake Basin in the northeastern part of Qinghai Province. It is both the largest inland lake and the largest saltwater lake in China. It was formed by the collapse of faults between Datong Mountain, Riyue Mountain in Qilian Mountains and Nanshan Mountain in Qinghai. It is 105 kilometers long, 63 kilometers wide, 360 kilometers in circumference, and covers an area of ??4583 square kilometers, which is nearly 459.76 square kilometers larger than Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake in China. The deepest point reaches 38 meters, the lake's water catchment area is about 29,661 square kilometers, and the lake's altitude is 3,196 meters. The Buha River flows into the northwest.

The lake is rich in Qinghai naked carp (commonly known as Huang fish), one of the five famous fish in the country, as well as hard-striped loach and Longtou loach. The average annual output of naked carp in Qinghai is 5,165 tons. From 1949 to 1985, the total production of naked carp was 191,180 tons. As time goes by, the resources decline, and the production of naked carp shows a downward trend year by year. Naked carps return to source rivers to lay eggs from June to July every year, providing abundant food conditions for fish-eating birds. In 1964, the state listed Qinghai Lake as a protected area, and the Qinghai naked carp was listed as an important and rare national aquatic economic animal.