青海湖由祁连山的大通山、日月山与青海南山之间的断层陷落形成，其海心山和鸟岛都是游览胜地。青海湖湖水来源主要依赖地表径流和湖面降水补给，曾被评为“国家重点风景名胜区”。
LocatedinthenortheastoftheQinghaiTibetPlateau,whichisknownasthe"roofoftheworld",andbetweenDatongmountain,RiyuemountainandNanshanMountaininthenortheastofQinghaiProvince,surroundedbymountainsonthreesides,itisthelargestsaltlakeinChinawithmagnificentscenery,whichwascalledWestLakeinancienttimes.Themainpartofthescenicspotisplateaulake,withgrassland,snowmountain,desertandotherlandscapes.
ThereareHaixinmountain,threestones,birdisland,Haiximountainandsandislandinthelake.Themountainsareemeraldandthelandscapeisunique.Itisfamousforbirdisland.Thelakeis3266metersabovesealevel,90kilometerslongfromeasttowestand40kilometerswidefromnorthtosouth,coveringanareaof4635squarekilometers.Thebasinareais10timeslargerthanthatofthelake.Thereare50shortriversflowinginfromallsidesofthethreemountains.Thereisnoaccesstothesea,soitisalsothelargestinlandlakeinChina.QinghaiLakeiscalled"kunuoer"inMongolianand"cuowenbu"inTibetan,whichmeans"BlueLake".ThewaterofQinghaiLakeischaracterizedbylowoxygencontent,maximumsaltcontent,fewplankton,andtransparencyofmorethan8-9meters,soitisparticularlyblue.
Thelakeareaisfullofvitality.Yaksandcattlecanbeseeneverywhere,andsheepcaneatgrass,whichconstitutesapastoralpictureof"cattleandsheepcanbeseeninthegrasswhenthewindblows".Therearetwowondersinthelakearea,oneisfishingground,theotherisbirdisland.QinghulakeisrichinHuangyu,whichisarichnaturalfishingground.TheQinghaiTibetPlateauhasbeenafascinatingplacesinceancienttimes.ThemainscenicspotsareHaixinmountainandbirdisland.BirdIsland,10metersabovethelake,isknownasthe"birdkingdom".Everyspring,alargenumberofseabirdscometoQinghaiLakefromIndia,Nepalandotherplacestobreed.Inautumn,theyflybacktotheSouthwiththeirchildren.Thestateattachesgreatimportancetothiskindofbirdresourcesandhassetupspecialprotectioninstitutionsontheisland.Haixinmountain,alsoknownasLongjuIsland,coversanareaofabout1squarekilometer,withbeautifulwaterandbeautifulscenery.Inthepast,peoplebuiltmanytemplesandhousesonHaixinmountain.Somelamaspracticedontheisland,andmanyherdsmencametotheislandtograze.The"mountainBuddhaTemple"hasbecomeauniquelandscapehere.
QinghaiLakeisbeautifulandrich,richindeliciousandnutritiousfish.Therearevastnaturalpasturesalongbothsidesofthelake.Itissnowyinwinter,rainyinsummerandautumn,andhasgoodconditionsforthedevelopmentofanimalhusbandry.IthasbecomeanimportantanimalhusbandrybaseinQinghaiProvince.
QinghaiLakeissurroundedbyabundantwaterresources,abundantrainfall,fertileland,flocksofcattleandsheep,andmelodiouspastoralsongs.Whilevigorouslydevelopinganimalhusbandry,thelocalpeoplehavealsofullydevelopedoilandfeedbasedagriculture.