Dongting Lake

Dongting Lake
Tung-tʻing Lake
Dongting Lake
Location	Hunan Province
Coordinates	29°18′36″N 112°57′00″E / 29.31000°N 112.95000°E / 29.31000; 112.95000
Primary inflows	Yangtze, Xiang, Zi, Yuan, Li
Primary outflows	Yangtze
Basin countries	China
Surface area	2,820 km2 (1,090 sq mi) flood season: 20,000 km2 (7,700 sq mi)
Ramsar Wetland
Official name	Dong-ting hu
Designated	31 March 1992
Reference no.	551[1]

Dongting Lake
"Lake Dongting" in Chinese characters
Chinese	洞庭湖
Literal meaning	"Grotto Court Lake"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Dòngtíng Hú Wade–Giles Tung4-t'ing2 Hu2 IPA [tʊ̂ŋ.tʰǐŋ xǔ] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Duhng-tìhng Wùh Jyutping Dung6-ting4 Wu4 IPA [tʊŋ˨tʰɪŋ˩ wu˩] Southern Min Tâi-lô Tōng-tîng Ôo

Dongting Lake (Chinese: 洞庭湖) is a large, shallow lake in northeastern Hunan Province, China. It is a flood basin of the Yangtze River, so its volume depends on the season. The provinces of Hubei and Hunan are named after their location relative to the lake: Hubei means "North of the Lake" and Hunan, "South of the Lake".^[2]

Dongting Lake is famous in Chinese culture as the place of origin of dragon boat racing. It is the site of Junshan Island and is home to the critically endangered Yangtze finless porpoise.^[2]