Where is Qinghai Lake?

Qinghai Lake is the largest inland saltwater lake in my country. It is located in the northeast of Qinghai Province, 150 kilometers away from Xining. It is about 63 kilometers wide from north to south, about 360 kilometers in circumference, and covers an area of ??about 4,500 square kilometers. , the lake has an altitude of about 3,200 meters, an average water depth of nearly 20 meters, and a water storage capacity of about 75.4 billion cubic meters. Qinghai Lake was called "West Sea" and "Qiang Sea" in ancient times, also known as "Fresh Water" and "Fresh Sea". In the Han Dynasty, some people also called it "Xianhai", and it was only changed to "Qinghai" from the Northern Wei Dynasty. It is called "Couwenbu" in Tibetan and "Kukunuoer" in Mongolian, both of which mean "blue lake".

The scenery of Qinghai Lake is very different in different seasons. In summer and autumn, when the surrounding majestic mountains and the vast grasslands on the west coast are covered in green, the Qinghai Lake has beautiful mountains and clear waters, the sky is high and the air is crisp, and the scenery is very beautiful. The vast and undulating grassland is like a thick green carpet. The colorful wild flowers embellish the green carpet like brocade and satin. Countless cattle, sheep and fat pigeons The horses are like colorful pearls scattered all over the grassland; the large and picturesque farmland beside the lake is rolling with wheat waves, and the cauliflower is golden and fragrant; the Qinghai Lake, with its vast expanse of blue waves and the same color as water and sky, is like a pool of nectar rippling gently. In the cold winter, when the cold snap arrives, the surrounding mountains and grasslands turn yellow, sometimes even covered with a thick layer of silver. Every year in November, Qinghai Lake begins to freeze. The vast clear lake surface, covered with ice and jade and covered with silver, is like a huge mirror, shining in the sun and emitting dazzling brilliance all day long.

In the northwest corner of Qinghai Lake, not far from the Buha River Delta, the largest river entering the lake, there are two islands of different sizes and shapes, one in the east and one in the west, facing each other. Nestled by the lake. From a distance, the two islands look like twin sisters dependent on each other, standing opposite each other on the lakeside, looking up into the distance. These two beautiful islands are the world-famous Bird Island.

Bird Island is named after hundreds of thousands of migratory birds that live on the island. Their real names are: the small island in the west is called Haixishan, Xiaoxishan, and Dandao; the big island in the east is called Haixipi. Haixi Mountain is shaped like a hump. Its area was originally very small, but now it has expanded as the lake water dropped. The top of the island is 7.6 meters higher than the lake surface. The island has the largest number of birds, about 80,000 to 90,000. This is the hereditary territory of bar-headed geese, fish gulls and brown-necked gulls. Every spring, bar-headed geese, fish gulls, brown-necked gulls, etc. come here together, each occupying a place on the island and building nests. During the spawning season, there are countless nests of bird eggs on the island. Therefore, people call this place Egg Island, and the bird island usually refers to this place.

Haixipi is high in the east and low in the west, shaped like a springboard, and its area is more than four times larger than Haixi Mountain. The terrain on the island is relatively flat, with dense legumes, wild onions and other plants growing there. The eastern part of the island has steep cliffs and is close to the lake. In front of the island, there is a huge rock standing abruptly in the lake. The surrounding waves are quite spectacular. The western part of the island is a gentle slope, closely adjacent to Haixi Mountain. Haisipi is the kingdom of cormorants, with tens of thousands of cormorants inhabiting it. They build large and small nests on the rock cliffs. Especially on the huge rock in front of the island, there are cormorant nests one after another, just like a castle of birds.

The reason why Bird Island has become an ideal home for birds to thrive is mainly because of its unique geographical conditions and natural environment. The terrain here is flat, the climate is mild, surrounded by water on three sides, the environment is quiet, the water plants are lush, and there are many fish. Those discerning birds choose different topography and ecological environments to build their own homes based on their own habits and hobbies. Most of the birds on Bird Island are migratory birds. Every spring, when the warm current from the Indian Ocean comes in, the birds living in the South Asian islands will migrate north across the snow-capped Himalayas with their fresh breath. Along the way, they screamed happily, day and night. Some of them flew to the rivers and lakes of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, some flew over the desert to farther places, and some flew to the Bird Island in Qinghai Lake. As soon as they arrived here, they didn't have time to wash off the dust from their feathers, and they didn't have time to rest leisurely. They were busy picking up grass, carrying branches, and building new homes. At this time, Bird Island was simply a joyful, busy, and noisy world. Hundreds of thousands of birds gathered on the island, taking off and landing, landing and flying again from morning to night. The sky and the earth, on the island and under the island, are full of birds.