Qinghai Lake མཚོ་སྔོན་པོ་
Qinghai Lake is an endorheic lake located in Qinghai, China. It is a Chinese AAAAA-rated tourist attraction and is a Tentative World Heritage Site. The lake covers an area of 4,400 km² and has a length of about 108 km. It is the 57th most looked-up sight in China on English Wikipedia and is one of the 130 sights of the country on this site.
Planning a visit
The lake is at an elevation of 3,266 m. The warmest months are July and August, when daily highs reach 16 °C and daily lows are 11 °C, but these months are also the wettest, with August seeing about 115 mm of rain. For drier conditions, visitors can visit in January or December, when there is almost no rain. In May, the daily high is 6 °C and there is about 36 mm of rain, while in June, the high is 12 °C and there is about 66 mm of rain.
To reach the lake, travelers can use Haibei Qilian Airport, which is 126 km away, or Xining Caojiabao International Airport, located 189 km away. The site is 1,463 km from the capital, Beijing.
Weather by month
The warmest month is July, with an average high of 16 °C. The wettest is August, with about 115 mm of rain.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average high, °C | -10 | -7 | -2 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 12 | 7 | 1 | -5 |
| Average low, °C | -17 | -14 | -9 | -5 | -2 | 6 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 2 | -3 | -12 |
| Rainfall, mm | 1 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 36 | 66 | 100 | 115 | 70 | 21 | 3 | 2 |
| Rainy days | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 15 | 18 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
Temperatures and rainfall: 1981–2010 averages for this spot (4 km grid), from CHELSA. Rainy days: 2015–2024, NASA POWER.
