Gahai Lake

Gahai Lake is an important wetland in Qaidam Basin. Because of a small insect, Artemia (also known as Fengnian insect), Gahai Lake appears in people's sight from time to time.

Artemia eggs are an important bait in aquaculture industry. The price of Artemia eggs once soared to 700000 yuan per ton, which is known as "soft gold".

Gahai Lake

Gahai Lake in Gannan is different from Gahai Salt Lake in Qinghai and Delingha.

Gahai Lake is the largest freshwater lake in Gannan. It is an important wetland in the eastern part of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau. It is known as a pearl on the plateau. In 1982, it was rated as a provincial migratory bird nature reserve. The area where Gahai Lake is located is called "cuoning" by Tibetans, which is "the place where yaks walk around". Gahai Lake is rich in water and grass. Many rare birds, such as black necked Crane, grey crane and swan, have settled and bred here.

Introduction to scenic spots

Gahai Lake in Gannan is different from Gahai Salt Lake in Qinghai and Delingha.

If you want to travel to Gannan, you can't miss Luqu. If you come to Luqu, you can't miss Gahai Lake. In summer, Gahai Lake is covered with wild flowers and vast grassland. The vast Shenhu lake is a gathering of birds. Here is the real Xiangbala in the snow plateau and the plateau mirror in Luqu of Gannan. Gahai Lake is 49 kilometers away from the county seat, 400 kilometers away from national highway 213, with an altitude of 3480 meters. The area of migratory bird nature reserve is 162000 mu, and the area of large and small lakes is 15000 mu, with an average water depth of 1.5 meters. It is the largest freshwater lake in Gannan, an important wetland in the east of Qinghai Tibet Plateau, and known as a pearl on the plateau. In 1982, it was rated as a provincial nature reserve for migratory birds. In 1998, Gahai Lake and zechashilin were approved as national nature reserves.

Gahai Lake collects the water from qiongmu Danqu, wengniqu, duomuqiqu and other hills, and flows into Taohe River through Zhouqu. The first bend of the Yellow River lies in Maqu County, 50 kilometers southwest of Gahai Lake. Gahai to the southeast 40 kilometers, then to Langmu temple.

The sky of Gahai grassland is deep as a well, and the clouds are like a train. The holy lake embedded in the grassland is like a clear mirror, reflecting the blue sky and white clouds. On the lake nearby, birds fly and fish leap, with magnificent waves. August is the best season on the grassland. The soft wind mixed with the fragrance of flowers on the lakeside makes you feel relaxed and happy. Flocks of waterfowl flying up by the lake attract tourists' attention. This kind of waterfowl has black plumage and white belly. Its beautiful legs and long mouth are bright red. Sometimes they hover in the air, sometimes they skim over the water surface, and then they lightly land on the meadow. When they fall together, their posture is beautiful.

The legend of Gahai Lake

There are many beautiful stories about Gahai Lake. First, it is said that a long time ago, on the beautiful grassland of Gahai beach, the seven fairies sang and danced. When they picked wild flowers, they dropped a jade and turned it into a holy lake with boundless blue waves. Since then, Gahai Lake has become the source of moistening the life of Gahai grassland. Second, it is said that Gahai Lake is the incarnation of a goddess, the wife of the Minister of a mountain god in Asia and the daughter of the Dragon King. At the beginning, the mountain god sent the minister to take charge of the grassland, which made Gahai grassland rich in water and grass and prosperous in life. Legashum, the minister's wife and the daughter of the water dragon king, had a special love for the grassland and had a deep attachment to it. Therefore, when the minister left, the daughter of the water dragon king, shefu, fell in love with the land and stayed here, turning into the next Wang Qingquan, moistening the life of Gahai grassland, This is the present Gahai Lake, which is affectionately called "legashum" by the masses. The masses call the lake "holy lake" and "holy water", which means that the grassland of Gahai has been deified, and the blood of "legashum" (lake water) has penetrated into all the mountains and waters of Gahai grassland. No one can pollute the lake, dig the grassland indiscriminately and do anything that damages the grassland ecology. That is to say, it is harmful to the gods and we should be punished.

Scenery of Gahai Lake

Gahai Lake is surrounded by mountains on all sides. Three rivers, qiongmudanju, wengniqu and duomuqiaqu, which originate from guoermangliang, Nanshan, flow into the depression and become the inexhaustible source of Gahai Lake. Around the lake formed a large swamp, the water grow loach, grouper and other aquatic life. Bryophytes, ferns and myrtle algae growing in swamps and meadows provide birds with a wide range of foraging points and habitats. At the end of spring and the beginning of summer, groups of white swan, grey goose, bantouyan, grey crane, brown Headed Gull, Red duck, green winged duck, pintail duck, cormorant, prairie lark and other nearly 100 species of birds fly from the South and Southeast Asia to settle down, lay eggs and raise their nestlings in this plateau "Shenhu". Black necked cranes are also the first-class national protected animals. They live and breed here for the summer, so they become one of the important breeding places for black necked cranes in China.

Traffic information

There is no direct bus to Gahai, but you can take Xiahe or Hezuo bus to Langmu temple and get off at Gahai. If you charter a bus from Xiahe to Langmu Temple via Sangke grassland and Gahai Lake, the cost is about 500 yuan.

1. It costs 71.5 yuan to take the shuttle bus from Xiahe bus station to Langmusi, which runs at 6:40 and 7:40 every day. It takes about 3 hours and 30 minutes to reach Gahai. The driver will stop for 10 minutes for passengers to take photos. The shuttle bus will take another 30-60 minutes to reach Langmusi.

2. If you start from Langmu temple, you can take the bus to Luqu or Hezuo, get off at the intersection of Gahai, and then take the bus to the gate of Gahai scenic spot.

Beautiful wetland

In recent years, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Gansu Province has gradually restored the ecological functions of Gahai Lake wetland, Maqu wetland and other important wetlands in the upper reaches of the Yellow River through a variety of measures. Gannan wetland has become a natural barrier to maintain the ecological security of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, and also provides ecological protection for the development of global tourism in Gannan.

Address: Gahai Town, Delingha City, Qinghai Province

Longitude: 97.55069732666

Latitude: 37.128023608339

Tour time: 1-2 hours

Traffic information: Gahai Lake is located in Gahai Town, Delingha City, about 48 km away from Delingha city. It is recommended to drive there by yourself.

Ticket information: 30 yuan per person

Opening hours: 9:00-18:00

Chinese PinYin : Ga Hai Hu