Heaven Lake ( Korean: , ''Ch'ŏnji'' or ''Cheonji''; zh, 天池, ''Tiānchí'';

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and Q ...

: ''Tamun omo'' or ''Tamun juce'') is a crater lake on the border between China and

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...

. It lies within a

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber ...

atop the volcanic

Paektu Mountain Paektu Mountain (), also known as Baekdu Mountain and in China as Changbai Mountain ( zh, s=长白山, t=長白山; Manchu: Golmin Šanggiyan Alin), is an active stratovolcano on the Chinese–North Korean border. At , it is the highest m ...

, a part of the

Baekdudaegan The Baekdu-daegan is a mountain-system and watershed-crest-line which runs through almost all of the length of the Korean Peninsula, from Paektu Mountain (2,744m) in the north to the Cheonhwang-bong or "Heavenly Monarch Peak" of Jirisan (1,915m ...

and Changbai mountain ranges. It is located partly in

Ryanggang Province Ryanggang Province (Ryanggangdo; ko, 량강도, ''Ryanggang-do'', ) is a province in North Korea. The province is bordered by China (Jilin) on the north, North Hamgyong on the east, South Hamgyong on the south, and Chagang on the west. Rya ...

, North Korea, at , and partly in Jilin Province, northeastern China. Heaven Lake has been recognized as the highest volcanic lake in the world by the Shanghai Office of the ''

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

''.

Geology and limnology

The

which contains Heaven Lake was created by the 946 eruption of Paektu Mountain. The lake has a surface elevation of . The lake covers an area of with a south–north length of and an east–west length of . The average depth of the lake is and a maximum depth of . From mid-October to mid-June, it is typically covered with ice.

History

Names and legends

In ancient Chinese literature, ' also refers to ' ( sometimes translated as "southern sea"). North Korean propaganda claims that Kim Jong-il was born near the lake on the mountain. In accordance with this, North Korean news agencies reported that on his death, the ice on the lake cracked "so loud, it seemed to shake the heavens and the Earth".

Notable visits

As part of an Inter-Korean summit, heads of states Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in visited Mount Paektu and Heaven Lake on September 20, 2018. Moon filled a bottle with water from the lake to take back to South Korea. The visit to the lake was a symbolic gesture, as both the lake and the mountain have considerable cultural significance to the

Korean people Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply ...

. Mount Paektu is mentioned in the anthems of both

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''no ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, and is considered to be the spiritual home of the Koreans.

Lake Tianchi Monster

Heaven Lake is also alleged to be home to the Lake Tianchi Monster. On September 6, 2007, Zhuo Yongsheng (director of a TV station's news center run by the administration office of the nature reserve at Mount Changbaishan,

Jilin Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea ( Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (P ...

) shot a 20-minute video of six seal-like, finned " Lake Tianchi Monsters", near the North Korean border. He sent pictures of the Loch Ness Monster-type creatures to

Xinhua Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...

's Jilin provincial bureau. One of them showed the creatures swimming in three pairs, in parallel. Another showed them together, leaving ripples on the volcanic lake.Tianchi monster' caught on film"
people.com.cn

In popular culture

The lake is the subject of the song "Tianchi Lake" on The Mountain Goats' 2008 album

Heretic Pride ''Heretic Pride'' is the eleventh studio album by the Mountain Goats, released in the UK on February 18, 2008, and in the US on February 19 by 4AD, their sixth album on the label. It is the first to feature the band's lineup of John Darnielle, P ...

References

Notes

{{Jilin topics Lakes of China Calderas of Asia Volcanic crater lakes Bodies of water of Jilin China–North Korea border International lakes of Asia Lakes of North Korea