Qinghai Lake, called "West Sea" in ancient times, is also called "fresh water" or "fresh sea". Tibetan is called "wrong temperature wave", which means "blue lagoon"; Mongolian calls it "Kukunod", that is, "Blue Ocean". Because the Qinghai Lake area belonged to the pasture of the Beihe nationality earlier, it was also called "the strong sea of the Beihe River", and some people called it "Hai Xian" in the Han Dynasty. From the Northern Wei Dynasty, it was renamed as "Qinghai".
Qinghai Lake covers an area of 4,456 square kilometers and has a circumference of more than 360 kilometers, which is more than twice that of the famous Taihu Lake. The lake is long from east to west, narrow from north to south and slightly oval. At first glance, it looks like a big poplar leaf. The average horizontal depth of Qinghai Lake is about 19 meters, the maximum water depth is 28 meters, the water storage capacity is 105 billion cubic meters, and the lake surface is 3260 meters above sea level, which is higher than the two Mount Taishan in Dongyue. Because of the high terrain here, the climate is very cool. Even in hot summer, the average daily temperature is only 15℃, making it an ideal summer resort.
Qinghai Lake is located in the northeast of Qinghai Plateau, with vast territory, vast grassland, numerous rivers, abundant aquatic plants and quiet environment. The lake is surrounded by four majestic mountains: the majestic Datong Mountain in the north, the majestic Sun and Moon Mountain in the east, the winding Nanshan Mountain in Qinghai in the south and the majestic Rubber Mountain in the west. These four mountains, seas and Ba Dou are between 3,600 meters and 5,000 meters. Looking around, it is like four high natural barriers, closely surrounding Qinghai Lake. From the foot of the mountain to the lake, there is an endless, flat and boundless grassland, and Qinghai Lake, with its vast smoke and blue waves, is like a huge jade plate embedded between mountains and grasslands, forming a magnificent and beautiful scenery in which mountains, lakes and grasslands set each other off.
The scenery is very different in different seasons in Qinghai Lake. In summer and autumn, when the majestic mountains around and the vast grasslands on the west bank are covered with green clothes, the mountains along Qinghai Lake are beautiful, the sky is crisp and the scenery is very beautiful. Large undulating groundsel is like a thick green carpet. Colorful wild flowers decorate the green carpet like brocade, and countless cattle, sheep and fat horses are scattered all over the grassland like colorful pearls. A large picturesque farmland by the lake, rolling wheat waves, cauliflower golden fragrance; Qinghai Lake with rippling blue waves, clear water and blue sky is like a cup of gently rippling dew. In the cold winter, the cold current came, and the surrounding mountains and grasslands turned yellow, sometimes covered with a thick layer of silver. Every year 165438+ October, Qinghai Lake begins to freeze. The vast and clear lake, frozen with jade and wrapped in silver, is like a huge treasure mirror, shining in the sun and radiating dazzling brilliance all day long.
Qinghai Lake is famous for its rich yellow croaker, which is rich in fish resources. It is worth mentioning that the ice fish produced here is very famous. Every frozen season, after Qinghai Lake is frozen, people drill holes to fish on the ice, and underwater fish automatically jump out of the ice cave under the temptation of sunlight or light to capture and cook delicious food.
Haixinshan and Bird Island in Qinghai Lake are both tourist attractions. Haixinshan, also known as Longju Island, covers an area of about 1 km2. With its rugged rocks and beautiful scenery, the island has been famous for producing dragonflies since ancient times. The famous Bird Island is located in the west of Qinghai Lake, near Buha River, the largest river in Liuzhu Lake. Its area is only 0.5 square kilometers, but it is home to 65438+ 10,000 migratory birds in spring and summer. In order to protect the bird resources on the island, there is also a special institution responsible for bird research and protection.
There are vast natural pastures, fertile fields and rich mineral resources along the coast of Qinghai Lake. It is snowy in winter, rainy in summer and autumn, abundant in water and rainfall, and has good conditions for developing animal husbandry and agriculture. As early as ancient times, it was an important producing area for horses, cattle, sheep and other livestock. Horses produced around Qinghai Lake were famous in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and were called "Qin Horses" at that time. The ancient masterpiece "The Book of Songs" once described the grandeur and kindness of "Qin Ma". Later, in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the horses produced here developed into unique thoroughbred horses by mating with Wusunma and Hanma. It is not only famous for its bravery, but also for its ability to recruit good fighters.