Chaka Salt Lake ( zh, s=茶卡盐湖, p=Chákǎ Yánhú; bo, ཚྭ་ཁ་མཚོ་) is a

salt lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre). ...

Ulan County Ulan or Wulan ( Mongolian: ; ; ) is a county of Qinghai Province, China. It is under the administration of Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. County seat is Xireg. The name of the county comes from a Mongolian word which means "r ...

, Haixi Prefecture,

Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...

, China. The oval-shaped lake is located near the eastern end of

Qaidam Basin The Qaidam, Tsaidam, or Chaidamu Basin is a hyperarid basin that occupies a large part of Haixi Prefecture in Qinghai Province, China. The basin covers an area of approximately , one-fourth of which is covered by saline lakes and playas. Around ...

, to the west of the provincial capital Xining. The name "Chaka" means "salt lake" in Tibetan. Chaka Lake is a major tourist destination and a key salt mine in Qinghai. In 2018, it received more than 3 million visitors. The lake is famous for its crystal-blue water and reflective lake bed, and is popularly known as "Mirror of the Sky".

References

{{reflist Lakes of China Lakes of Qinghai Tourist attractions in Qinghai