The Chinese lake Kukunor mesmerizes with its beauty of landscapes and ancient legends about a mysterious creature living at the bottom of a reservoir. Having settled next to him, a person can become immensely rich or become completely impoverished. There were times when a section of the Great Silk Road stretched along the northern lake shore. A photo of Kukunor Lake in China proves its greatness and beauty. But the water from it is not suitable for drinking: it is salty and has alkali impurities. Well, let's try to uncover all the secrets and secrets of the glorious Lake Kukunor.
Where is?
Among people, this pond is called a "stingy host." What is the reason? Many rivers flow into it, but not one flows out. This made it possible for Kukunor to turn into the largest closed lake of Central Asia. Only Issyk-Kul is larger than it. Over its many kilometers long pond, they called it “long water”. Although it is impossible to drink water from the lake, but along the banks, still, many Tibetans, Chinese and Mongols live.
If you look at the photo, then pay attention to the unusually clear blue surface. For this he was nicknamed Kukunor, which is translated from Mongolian means "blue lake". The first researcher of "long water" was the famous Nikolai Przhevalsky. He accurately noticed how in the sunlight the water turns dark blue. Location Kukunor accounts for Qinghai province, in the west of the DPRK. It is in the central part of the eponymous lake valley. On the southeast side are the Nanshan Mountains.
Kukunor Lake Area in China
The area of the reservoir is constantly changing. What is the reason for this? Around Kukunor mountains and steppes stretch. Sometimes the lake can be reduced almost by half. It depends on the tide of water from the rivers. 23 rivers flow into the lake. They replenish with rain and snow waters. From this flood its level in the lake also depends. Bukh-Gol is considered the most aquiferous river; a delta is formed from it in the west. In the summer, the water warms up to 20 ° C, and from November to March it is covered with ice.
The depth of Kukunor Lake does not change, it remains at the level of 40 m. Since the water regularly decreases, then rises, peculiar terraces have formed. Their height can reach 50 m.
Features of the reservoir
"Long water" is distinguished by a smooth coastline. Feather grass and cereal grass prevail on it. They adapted to a small amount of moisture and salty soil. Due to the fact that the water in Kukunor often "wanders", swamps have formed in some places.
In winter, cold air masses descend from glaciers in the mountains. Therefore, the water temperature in the lake is low. Sometimes a pond can freeze up to 1 m in depth. In the summer, everything revives around him, the sun begins mercilessly to burn.
The rivers flowing into the lake have eroded the rocks for many centuries, demolished a lot of sand and gravel. This has contributed to the formation of many islands, which do not even have names.
In Kunkunor, many fish from the cyprinid family live. The muddy bottom and aquatic plants contribute to their rapid reproduction. The most common is the scaleless naked carp. It absorbs a lot of silt, so the lake does not turn into a swamp.
Lifestyle near the pond
Life around Kukunor is not easy, but many people like these places with a secluded lifestyle among the mountain slopes. In the ancient written documents of the Han empire (210 BC), the Kukunor reservoir was called the West Sea. Even for the Chinese, the size of the lake seems too large. Large cities around the reservoir did not form, because there is sorely lacking drinking water.
Even nomadic herders from Mongolia do not linger on the coast for a long time. Sheep quickly eats all the steppe grass near the coast, which is why you have to migrate to other places. In the first photo you can see small houses. People do not live in them, they are built for tourists.
In Qinghai province, many Chinese live. Only they live in areas where minerals are developed. Residents mostly adhere to Tibetan Buddhism. On one of the islands, the Buddhist temple of Mahadeva ("Heart of the Lake") has been preserved. Several hermits live in it. Here you can also see a large stone Ganjur. For Buddhists, it is sacred. You can watch it in the photo below.
The abundance of birds near the pond
Kukunor is surrounded by continuous mountains. This place is very fond of migratory birds. About 20 species of birds flies here annually. This is a convenient place where migratory birds stop, heading from Europe to Asia and back. Most of all the birds chose the place, which they called Bird Island. Here, the birds manage to breed. Around the island, everything is fenced so that wolves and foxes do not have the opportunity to ravage nests, disrupt the laying of eggs, and interfere with hatching of chicks. Because of this, the number of species of birds flying to the islands increases markedly.
Some interesting facts
There are many legends about the Kukunor reservoir. Przewalski wrote one of them in his book. It says that the initial location of the lake was under Tibetan soil. Then the pond found its present place. The legend says that the rocky shores brought here from Nanshan. One mighty bird was able to bring a large island to the lake to cover the hole from which streams of water flowed. Small islands appeared from an evil spirit.
In one Buddhist tradition, it is written that in the year of the Horse, a believer is supposed to ride a horse around the lake as a pilgrimage to sacred places. Buddhist Chinese believe that the "point of power" on Earth is concentrated in the lake. They also believe that there are unusual living creatures that have survived from ancient times.