Five Saltwater Lakes in China
Saltwater lakes are lakes with high salt content. China’s saltwater lakes are mainly distributed in the western region, and they are far more numerous than freshwater lakes. The five largest lakes are Qinghai Lake, Nam Co Lake, Selin Co Lake, Wulungu Lake, and Yamdrok Lake.
1.Qinghai Lake 青海湖
Qinghai Lake, also known as “Cowwenbu”, means “blue sea” in Tibetan. It is located in the Qinghai Lake Basin in the northwestern part of Qinghai Province. It is not only China’s largest inland lake, but also China’s largest saltwater lake! The area of Qinghai Lake is 4400 square kilometers, the volume of the lake is 73.9 billion cubic meters, the longest is about 104 kilometers, the widest is about 62 kilometers, and the maximum water depth is 31.4 meters.
2.Nam Co Lake 纳木错湖
Nam Co is located in the central part of the Tibet Autonomous Region. It is the second largest lake in Tibet and the third largest saltwater lake in China. The lake is 4718 meters above sea level and is approximately rectangular in shape. It is more than 70 kilometers long from east to west, more than 30 kilometers wide from north to south, and covers an area of more than 1,920 square kilometers. The deepest part of Namtso exceeds 120 meters with a water storage capacity of 76.8 billion cubic meters, making it the largest lake in the world.
3.Selincuo Lake 色林错湖
SelinCuo, Tibetan means “the devil’s lake reflected in glory”. It was once named Qilin Lake and Selin Dongcuo. It is the largest lake in Tibet and the second largest saltwater lake in China. Selincuo is located in Shenzha, Tibet Autonomous Region At the junction of 3 counties, Bangor, and Nyima, it is located at the northern foot of Gangdis Mountain and north of Shenzha County. The lake is 4,530m above sea level. The long axis extends from east to west, with a length of 77.7km, a maximum width of 45.5 km and an average width of 20.95km , With an area of 2391 square kilometers.
4.Ulungu Lake 乌伦古湖
Ulungu Lake, also known as Brentuo Sea, Dahaizi, and Fuhai, is located in Fuhai County, Altay Region, Xinjiang, China. It is the second largest fishery base in Xinjiang after Bosten Lake. The main water source of the lake comes from the Ulungu River. The average depth of the lake is 8 meters and the lake area is 753 square kilometers.
5.Yamdrok Lake 羊卓雍措湖
Yamdrok Lake, or “Yanghu Lake” for short, is one of the three holy lakes in Tibet. It is located in Langkazi County, Shannan Region, Tibet, about 70 kilometers southwest of Lhasa, with an area of 675 square meters. Kilometers, the lake is 4441 meters above sea level, 130 kilometers long from east to west, 70 kilometers wide from north to south, and the total length of the lake shore is 250 kilometers. The lake is 20-40 meters deep, and the deepest point is 60 meters.
