Qinghai Lake
Qinghai Lake
is the largest lake in China, covering an area of 4583 square
kilometers. The lake sits at an altitude of 3266 meters (10,712')
and is called "Koko Nor" in Mongolian and "Tso Ngonpo" in
Tibetan. The Space Shuttle photograph is oriented with north to
the upper right. The penninsula that now includes Bird Island is
the the upper left part of the lake. Spits along the northern and
southern shores reflect the dominant wind direction (which drives
the lake water eastward). One of the labor camps of the extensive
Chinese gulag is located at Gangca, marked by the irrigated river
delta on the north side of Koko Nor.
The sandy areas at the eastern end mark the location of a
1170-square-kilometer Haiyan nuclear weapons facility, also
called the "Ninth Academy" or "Factory 221." The Ninth Academy
was China's main nuclear research facility and produced all of
China's early nuclear weapons. Radioactive waste generated during
weapon production, which continued into the 1980s, was dumped on
the base. Although the Chinese government claims that there has
been no environmental damage and, more ominously, that "no one at
the base has ever died of radiation," it is not clear how well
the toxic waste is contained.
Koko Nor means "blue lake"; its brackish waters are an
extraordinary turquoise-blue. It is lined by a brilliant yellow
algal bloom. Qinghai Lake was originally freshwater. It developed
in the Early Pleistocene when tectonic movements blocked the
course of the through-going ancestral Buh He, which now enters
the northwest side of the lake. However, the water is now
brackish. The lake has been shrinking for at least the last 8000
years, because the present rate of evaporation and, more
significantly use, exceeds the rate at which water refills
it.
Rock steps and strand lines, features carved into the
landscape when the lake was higher, document a long gradual
decline in water level during the past 8000 years. More recently,
the Han settlers have used the water for irrigation and
livestock. Between 1959 and 1982, Koko Nor's waters declined at
an average of 10 centimeters per year. In 1983, the lake's water
authority instituted emergency measures that led to a rise from
1983 to 1989, but for the last decade, the lake's water level has
again been dropping. Much of the lake shore is under cultivation,
contrasting sharply with the description of barren uninhabited
country given by Alexandra David-Neel during her visit in
1919.
Heimahe
At
Heimahe, on the southwestern edge of Qinghai Lake, we are
extremely fortunate to encounter a religious gathering, which is
reminiscent of a Cecil B. de Mille production. Several hundred
Tibetans, dressed in their finest clothing, are gathered to greet
a high lama from Gonghe. Some of the women's long hair is plaited
into 108 tight braids, this being a Buddhist holy number. The
lama sits in a small white van, barely visible in the crush of
enthusiastic supplicants.
Men on
horseback wait further up the road, and as the van moves on, they
raise their arms and a cheer goes up. The colored scarves in
their hands are whipped by the strong wind; some release handfuls
of small paper squares, about the size of a playing card, printed
with prayers, which scatter like gigantic snowflakes.
