What is Qinghai Lake?
{{Infobox body of water |name=Qinghai Lake |image=qinghai lake.jpg |caption=From space (November 1994). North is to the left. |image_bathymetry= |caption_bathymetry= |location=[[Qinghai]], China |coords={{coord|37|00|N|100|08|E|region:CN-63_type:waterbody_scale:1000000|display=inline,title}} |pushpin_map=Qinghai |type=[[Endorheic]] [[saline lake|salt lake]] |inflow= |outflow= |catchment= |basin_countries= |length= |width= |area={{convert|4186|km2|abbr=on}} <small>(2004)</small><br>{{convert|4489|km2|abbr=on}} <small>(2007)</small><ref name=asdf/> |depth= |max-depth={{convert|32.8|m|abbr=on}} |volume= |residence_time= |shore= |elevation={{convert|3,260|m|abbr=on}} |islands=Sand Island, Bird Islands |cities=[[Haiyan County, Qinghai|Haiyan County]] |reference=<ref name=asdf>{{cite web|url=http://www.cciced.org/2008-07/03/content_15925312.htm|title=Area of Qinghai Lake Has Increased Continuously|publisher=China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development|access-date=August 28, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828130842/http://www.cciced.org/2008-07/03/content_15925312.htm|archive-date=August 28, 2008}}</ref> }} The '''Qinghai Lake''', or '''Ch'inghai Lake''', is the [[List of lakes by area|largest]] [[lake]] in [[China]]. It is in the [[Qinghai Province]], which is where the lake gets its name. The lake has a [[surface area]] of {{convert|4186|km2}}. The lake is a [[alkaline lake|alkaline]] [[saline lake|salt lake]]. Its size has changed over time. During the [[20th century]], it became smaller, but has been getting larger since 2004. The [[average]] [[depth]] of the lake was {{convert|21|m}} in 2008. The deepest part of the lake was {{convert|25.5|m}}.<ref>Buffetrille 1994, p. 2; Gruschke 2001, pp. 90 ff. It has a size of approximately {{convert|108|km}} by {{convert|67|km}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.1117/1.3601363|title=Water level variation of Lake Qinghai from satellite and ''in situ'' measurements under climate change|journal=Journal of Applied Rem