Qinghai Lake, historically known as Kokonor (from the Mongolian name), is a salt lake situated in the province of Qinghai, about 100km west of the provincial capital of Xining. Qinghai is the largest lake in China, and is at 3,205 m (10,515 feet) above sea level in a depression of the Tibetan Plateau in the former Tibetan province of Amdo. Twenty-three rivers and streams empty into Qinghai Lake.

In history, people referred to the Qinghai Lake as the "West Sea", while the Tibetans, Mongolians and the ancient Beihe tribe all had their own names for the lake. Western Queen Mother was said to be the female chieftain of the ancient Qiang tribe who lived in the lake area 3,000 years ago. Once she invited King Mu of Zhou, who came in a carriage drawn by eight horses to visit Yaochi - another name for the Qinghai Lake. Western Queen Mother is seen as the goddess of the lake and the myriads of migrating birds that keep returning there year after year are the same birds that kept a lookout for King Mu of Zhou.

Being 3,260 meters above sea level, and with a circumference of 360 kilometers, the lake has a water area of 4,340 square kilometers and contains 77.8 billion cubic meters o water. It is encircled by mountains on all sides - the Datong Mountain in the north, the South Qinhhai Mountain in the south, the Xiangpi Mountain in the west and the Sun and Moon Mountain in the east. The east-west flowing Daotang River empties into the lake.

People who have never been there often imagine that its water is blue, but come close, you'll discover that the lake water is by no means a single color - at different times of day, during different seasons, and when viewed from different angles, its waters appear in different colors - light green, blue, green, gray, orange, yellow.... So wide a range of different colors in a single lake casts light on why it was referred to as the "Fairy Sea" during the Han Dynasty (206BC - AD220) some two thousand years ago and why it was described as "a scene that rightly belongs in Heaven".

Bird Island, also known as the Lesser West Hill, rises barely 7.6 meters above the water level. Small as it is, it is home to the greatest number of birds, over a hundred thousand of them, including the bar-headed goose, great black-headed gull and red-neck gull. Every spring, huge flocks of these birds come to this traditional home of theirs to build nests and raise their chicks. The whole islet is densely populated with birds and many birds eggs have given rise to its name. So it is also known as the kingdom of birds.

The majority of the population of the Bird Island are birds rather than human residents. With the coming of spring and of warm air currents from the Indian Ocean, birds from the islands of South Asia fly north across the Himalayas during their annual migration. For many the Qinghai Lake is their destination and the Bird Island is paradise for them. For as far as the eye can see, there is the spectacular of thick flocks of birds wheeling through the air, busy hunting food, building nests, laying and hatching eggs. This unique sight has made the island the most popular tourist spot on the Qinghai Lake.

The lake often remains frozen for three months continuously in winter. But the glamour of Qinghai Lake doesn't diminish much. At this time, the leaf-yellow mountains put on a new suit of clothes as they become blanketed with new-fallen snow. The snow and ice covered surface of the lake shines brightly in the sun, adding another degree of beauty to the lake. The famous "Icy Fish" are very easy to catch at this time because they are confined by the ice. An interesting fact is that when a hole is dug in the ice, it is easy to trick the fish out of the water.