Atlas
Qinghai Lake
Qinghai Lake is a vast inland salt lake whose Tibetan name means 'turquoise sea,' a refuge for migratory birds on the Plateau.
Prefecture: Haibei
Province: QinghaiQinghai Lake's turquoise waters meet a rocky, sparsely grassed plateau shore, with dry mountain ridges and a small traditional monastery beneath a clouded sky.
Vista2
- Erlangjian Scenic Area
A narrow peninsula shaped like a long sword reaching into the deep sapphire waters of China's largest lake.
- Xiannuwan Wetland
A serene bay known as Fairy Cove, premier winter sanctuary for migrating whooper swans across the plateau.
Natural Wonder2
- Qinghai Lake Bird Island
A world-renowned sanctuary where tens of thousands of bar-headed geese and gulls breed on isolated rocky isles.
- Qinghai Lake Sand Island
A surreal desert-lake landscape where soaring yellow sand dunes border crystal blue waters.
Temple1
- Haixin Mountain Temple
A solitary rocky island in the center of the lake, serving for centuries as a sacred retreat for hermits.
In its history3
- Songtsen Gampoc. 617–650 CE
Part of Qinghai Lake's history: Princess Wencheng's Journey. Tibetan ruler, called Qizong Nongzan in the Tang histories, who pressed the Tang for a marriage alliance and received Princess Wencheng as his bride in 641
- Princess WenchengBirth unknown–680 CE
Part of Qinghai Lake's history: Princess Wencheng's Journey. Tang imperial clanswoman married to the Tibetan ruler Songtsen Gampo in 641, who lived in Tibet for almost forty years until her death in 680
- Li Shimin598–649 CE
Part of Qinghai Lake's history: Princess Wencheng's Journey. Second Tang emperor who as Prince of Qin defeated the rival regimes, seized the throne in the Xuanwu Gate coup, and reigned under the title Zhenguan
Tang2
- Princess Wencheng's Journey
Princess Wencheng married Songtsen Gampo in a Tang-Tibetan alliance that expanded exchanges of envoys, crafts, and texts between the courts.
- Wencheng and the Sun-Moon Mountain LegendTang Dynasty (641 CE)
Princess Wencheng's Tang-Tibetan marriage provides the historical setting for her passage by Red Ridge, while the mirror and river stories remain local tradition.
Northern and Southern1
- Tuyuhun Pastoral Polity around Qinghai LakeEastern Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties to early Tang
From the Eastern Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties into the early Tang, the Tuyuhun polity operated around Qinghai Lake on a pastoral economic base.