Island gem offers cooling rare view

2013-08-10 21:20

By (chinadaily.com.cn)

The scorching heat of China this summer makes Qinghai Lake, located on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau a chilled choice for a vacation. With an average temperature of about 15 C, it is called the highland air conditioner with its fascinating natural beauty.

Qinghai Lake, meaning the blue lake, is located northeast of Qinghai province and is the largest lake in China stretching about 105 kilometers in length and 63 kilometers wide. .

Niaodao, or Bird Island, is just like the name says where thousands of birds inhabit in the Northwest corner of Qinghai Lake. It is a heaven for Asian birds, and the hottest among bird reserves in China. May and June are the best times for bird watching. It is quite a spectacle as thousands of birds fly over the sky, with their nests and eggs thickly dotted all over the island. More than 100,000 migrant birds, including bar-headed geese, ruddy shell-ducks, cormorants, swans, and brown-headed gulls from Southern China and the Indian Ocean come to the lake every year.

The Lake is about 130 kilometers or 80 miles from Xining, capital of Qinghai. It takes about more two hours by car from the city.