Lake overview of Eling Lake

Eling Lake is a large plateau freshwater lake in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. It is also called the Eling Sea. It was called Baihai in ancient times. It is called Cuo'elang in Tibetan and means blue long lake. It is located in Maduo County, Qinghai Province, China. In the western depression, 15 kilometers away from Zhaling Lake in the west, it is called the "sister lake at the source of the Yellow River" together with Zhaling Lake. Eling Lake is shaped like a golden bell, narrow from east to west and long from north to south. Eling Lake and Zhaling Lake are separated by a natural embankment, which looks like a butterfly. The lake is 4,272 meters above sea level, about 32.3 kilometers long from north to south, and 31.6 kilometers wide from east to west. The lake covers an area of ??610 square kilometers and has an average water depth of 17.6 meters. The deepest point in the north of the center of the lake is 30.7 meters, with a water storage capacity of 10.7 billion cubic meters. When the Yellow River flows through the Bayanlangma Mountains between the two lakes, it forms a canyon, which is about 300 meters long. To the east of the canyon is a vast swamp to the lakeside. The Yellow River flows in from the southwest and flows out from the northeast. Because there is less sediment entering the lake, the lake water is blue. The lake is rich in cold-water scaleless fish, and migratory birds gather on the small island in the center of the lake, forming another bird island on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The lake is surrounded by subalpine meadows, which are important pastures in Qinghai.

Historically, Eling Lake was the place where Songtsen Gampo married Princess Wencheng.

The Yellow River flows through the Xingxiu Sea and flows eastward for more than 20 kilometers before entering the largest lakes in the upper reaches of the Yellow River - Zhaling Lake and Eling Lake. Eling Lake and Zhaling Lake are the two largest plateau freshwater lakes at the source of the Yellow River, and are known as the "sister lakes at the source of the Yellow River". Between the two lakes, there is Bayanlangma Mountain. Zhaling Lake and Eling Lake are more than 3,300 meters above sea level, more than 1,000 meters higher than my country's largest inland lake, Qinghai Lake. They are veritable plateau lakes. The terrain here is cold and humid, the territory is vast, the grass is rich, and the natural landscape is wonderful. It is a rare tourist attraction.

Zhaling Lake is long from east to west and narrow from north to south, with a lake surface area of ??526 square kilometers, an average water depth of 8.6 meters, the shallowest point is only more than 1 meter, and a water storage capacity of 4.6 billion cubic meters. The water of Zhaling Lake is clear and shiny. To the south of the center of the lake is the mainstream line of the Yellow River. It looks like a wide milky yellow belt, dividing the lake into two halves, one half of which is clear and green, and the other half is slightly white. That’s why it’s called “Long White Lake”. In the southwest corner of Zhaling Lake, not far from where the Yellow River enters the lake, there are three small islands covering an area of ??1 to 2 square kilometers. A large number of waterbirds live on the islands, so they are also called "Bird Islands". Most of the birds here are migratory birds, including swans, wild geese, fish gulls, red shelducks and other birds.

After a roundabout at Zhaling Lake, the Yellow River enters a long valley about 20 kilometers long and more than 300 meters wide in the south of Bayanlangma Mountain. The river here divides into nine channels. Scattered through the canyon, it flows into Eling Lake in the southwest corner, with an average annual runoff of 485 million cubic meters. The shapes of Eling Lake and Zaling Lake are exactly the opposite. Eling Lake is narrow from east to west and long from north to south. The lake area is 628 square kilometers, which is 100 square kilometers larger than Zaling Lake. The average water depth is 17.6 meters, and the deepest can reach more than 30 meters. It stores water. The volume is 10.7 billion cubic meters, which is equivalent to more than double that of Zhaling Lake. The water color of Eling Lake is extremely clear and dark green. When the sky is sunny, the clouds in the sky and the surrounding mountains are reflected in the water and are clearly visible, so it is called the "Long Blue Lake". Eling Lake is vast and magnificent. In the morning, the lake surface is calm and the waves are still, but in the afternoon the weather often changes dramatically, strong winds rise suddenly, and the calm lake surface becomes choppy, with waves crashing on the shore. Sometimes, there will be a scene where the sky is dark and the earth is dark. For a while, it looks like a series of black tents, with flags and flags flying, and people shouting. It is said that this was the grand scene when Tibetan Songtsen Gampo welcomed Princess Wencheng here; for a while, it turns into dots. The white wind tent, from far to near, is a very spectacular sight.