Chaka Salt Lake

Chaka Salt Lake
Chaka Salt Lake is located in Qinghai
Chaka Salt Lake
Chaka Salt Lake
LocationUlan County, Haixi Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China
Coordinates36°41′51″N 99°06′20″E / 36.6976°N 99.1055°E / 36.6976; 99.1055
TypeSalt lake
Basin countriesChina
Max. length15.8 km (9.8 mi)
Max. width9.2 km (5.7 mi)
Surface area105 km2 (41 sq mi)
Surface elevation3,100 m (10,170 ft)
SettlementsChaka, Ulan County

Chaka Salt Lake (Chinese: 茶卡盐湖; pinyin: Chákǎ Yánhú; Standard Tibetan: ཚྭ་ཁ་མཚོ་) is a salt lake in Ulan County, Haixi Prefecture, Qinghai, China.[1][2] The oval-shaped lake is located near the eastern end of Qaidam Basin, 298 kilometres (185 mi) to the west of the provincial capital Xining.[3] The name "Chaka" (ཚྭ་ཁ) means "salt lake" in Tibetan.[4]

Chaka Lake is a major tourist destination and a key salt mine in Qinghai. In 2018, it received more than 3 million visitors.[3][5] The lake is famous for its crystal-blue water and reflective lake bed, and is popularly known as "Mirror of the Sky".[4]

  1. ^ Liu, Xingqi; Dong, Hailiang; Rech, Jason; Matsumoto, Ryo; Bo, Yang; Wang, Yongbo (2008-04-01). "Evolution of Chaka Salt Lake in NW China in response to climatic change during the Latest Pleistocene–Holocene". Quaternary Science Reviews. 27 (7–8): 867–879. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2007.12.006. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  2. ^ "Chaka Salt Lake: Mirror of the sky in China". english.www.gov.cn. China: Government of China. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  3. ^ a b "New tourist park to open at China's Chaka Salt Lake". China Daily. 10 July 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Chaka Salt Lake: Mirror of the sky in China". China Daily. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Visitors exceed 3 million at Chaka Salt Lake". China Tibet Online. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2019.