Lake Khanka (russian: о́зеро Ха́нка) or Lake Xingkai (), is a freshwater lake on the border between
Primorsky Krai
Primorsky Krai (russian: Приморский край, r=Primorsky kray, p=prʲɪˈmorskʲɪj kraj), informally known as Primorye (, ), is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia, located in the Far East region of the country and is a part of the ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
and
Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...
province,
Northeast China
Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of t ...
(at ).
Etymology
![Txu-pclmaps-oclc-22834566 f-10a](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Txu-pclmaps-oclc-22834566_f-10a.jpg)
On the
Delisle map of 1706, the lake is named ''Himgon'' and from it flows a river labelled with the names ''Usurou'' and ''Ousuri''.
On the 1739 map of
Johann Matthias Hase
Johann Matthias (Matyhias) Hase (Haas, Haase) (anglicised as Johannes Hasius) (14 January 1684 – 24 September 1742) was a German mathematician, astronomer, and cartographer.
Biography
Hase taught at Leipzig and his native Augsburg. In 1720, he ...
, the lake is named Lake ''Hinka'' and the river flowing from it called by the names ''Ousoury'' and ''
Schur''.
On the 1752 map of
d'Anville
Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville (; born in Paris 11 July 169728 January 1782) was a French geographer and cartographer who greatly improved the standards of map-making. D'Anville became cartographer to the king, who purchased his cartographic ...
, the lake is named ''Hink'', and the river from it is called ''
Songhachan'', which flows, in turn, into the river ''Usuri''.
On an 18th-century map showing the "Irkutsk governorate with the adjacent islands and the western coast of America", the river issuing from ''Lake Hinka'' is named as the ''Usuri''.
On the 1860 map attached to the
Convention of Peking
The Convention of Peking or First Convention of Peking is an agreement comprising three distinct treaties concluded between the Qing dynasty of China and Great Britain, France, and the Russian Empire in 1860. In China, they are regarded as amon ...
, two lakes are shown: the larger ''Oz. Khankai'' (Russian: "Lake Khankai"), with ''Khankai'' glossed as signifying "quiet", (but given without a Manchu transliteration), and the smaller ''Oz. Dobiku'' (Russian: "Lake Dobiku") - given with a Manchu transliteration of ''Dobiku''. From the big lake is shown flowing a river, labelled with the Russian names ''Uzhu'' and ''
Sungachan'', with the second of these names being glossed with a Manchu transliteration.
On the 1861 map made by 'M. Popov' (= rear-admiral
Andrei Alexandrovich Popov
Andrei Alexandrovich Popov (russian: Андрей Александрович Попов) (21 September 1821 - 6 March 1898) was an officer of the Imperial Russian Navy, who saw action during the Crimean War, and became a noted naval designer.
Pop ...
?), the larger lake is given the name ''Kengka'', while the smaller is called ''Ai'-Kengka'' - to which name is added (in brackets) the further name ''Siauhu'' (which can be understood as a transcription of the Chinese ''Xiaohu'', that is, "Small Lake").
On the 1864 map by A.F. Budishchev, a captain in the
Corps of Foresters, the lake is named as ''Khinkai'' (''Singkai'').
On the ethnographic map of
Shrenk the abbreviated Russian names ''Oz. Khanka'' and ''Oz. Mal. Khanka'' ("Lake Khanka" and "Little / Lesser Lake Khanka") are used.
Explorer, traveler, naturalist and writer
Vladimir Arsenyev
Vladimir Klavdiyevich Arsenyev, (russian: Влади́мир Кла́вдиевич Арсе́ньев; 10 September 1872 – 4 September 1930) was a Russian explorer of the Far East who recounted his travels in a series of books — "По ...
(1872-1930) wrote, concerning the name of the lake: "In the Liao Dynasty, Khanka Lake was called ''Beitsin-hai'', but it is now known as ''Khanka'', ''Khinkai'' and ''Sinkai-hu'', meaning "Lake of Prosperity". It must be assumed that the name ''Khanka'' originated from another word, namely ''khanhai'', meaning "hollow" - a name by which the Chinese call every low place...Subsequently, the Russians must have changed this word to its current form of ''Khanka''. "
Historical studies
Lake Khanka is an ancient lake, rich in fish and bird species - a richness reflected in the ancient name ''Khankai-Omo'' - "Sea of bird feathers". Likewise, in the Middle Ages, the fish fauna of Lake Khanka furnished the tables of both Chinese and
Jurchen emperors with an abundance of delicacies.
In 1868,
Nikolay Przhevalsky
Nikolay Mikhaylovich Przhevalsky (or Prjevalsky;; pl, Nikołaj Przewalski, . – ) was a Russian geographer of Polish descent (he was born in a Polish noble family), and a renowned explorer of Central and East Asia.
Although he never reache ...
visited Lake Khanka, leaving for posterity his descriptions of the flora and fauna of the lake and its surroundings. It was thirty-four years later, in 1902, that the explorer
Vladimir Arsenyev
Vladimir Klavdiyevich Arsenyev, (russian: Влади́мир Кла́вдиевич Арсе́ньев; 10 September 1872 – 4 September 1930) was a Russian explorer of the Far East who recounted his travels in a series of books — "По ...
made his first expedition to the area.
UFO or will o' the wisp
In
Shen Kuo
Shen Kuo (; 1031–1095) or Shen Gua, courtesy name Cunzhong (存中) and pseudonym Mengqi (now usually given as Mengxi) Weng (夢溪翁),Yao (2003), 544. was a Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman of the Song dynasty (960–1279). Shen wa ...
's
Dream Pool Essays
''The Dream Pool Essays'' (or ''Dream Torrent Essays'') was an extensive book written by the Chinese polymath and statesman Shen Kuo (1031–1095), published in 1088 during the Song dynasty (960–1279) of China. Shen compiled this encycloped ...
, a passage called "Strange Happenings" contains a peculiar account of an
unidentified flying object
An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...
. Shen wrote that, during the reign of
Emperor Renzong (1022–1063), an object as bright as a pearl occasionally hovered over the city of
Yangzhou
Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yan ...
at night, but described first by local inhabitants of eastern
Anhui
Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...
and then in
Jiangsu
Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...
.
[Dong (2000), 69. (Professor Zhang Longqiao of the Chinese Department of ]Peking Teachers' College
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, who popularized this account in Beijing's ''Guang Ming Daily'' on February 18, 1979, in an article called "Could It Be That A Visitor From Outer Space Visited China Long Ago?", states is "a clue that a flying craft from some other planet once landed somewhere near Yangzhou
Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yan ...
in China.") Shen wrote that a man near
Xingkai Lake
Lake Khanka (russian: о́зеро Ха́нка) or Lake Xingkai (), is a freshwater lake on the border between Primorsky Krai, Russia and Heilongjiang province, Northeast China (at ).
Etymology
On the Delisle map of 1706, the lake is name ...
observed this curious object; allegedly it:
...opened its door and a flood of intense light like sunbeams darted out of it, then the outer shell opened up, appearing as large as a bed with a big pearl the size of a fist illuminating the interior in silvery white. The intense silver-white light, shot from the interior, was too strong for human eyes to behold; it cast shadows of every tree within a radius of ten miles. The spectacle was like the rising Sun, lighting up the distant sky and woods in red. Then all of a sudden, the object took off at a tremendous speed and descended upon the lake like the Sun setting.[Dong (2000), 69–70.]
Shen went on to say that Yibo, a poet of
Gaoyou
Gaoyou (), is a county-level city under the administration of Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, China, located in the Yangtze River Delta on the north side of the Yangtze River.
History
Recent archaeological finds at the Longqiuzhuang site in Gaoyou has ...
, wrote a poem about this "pearl" after witnessing it. Shen wrote that since the "pearl" often made an appearance around Fanliang in Yangzhou, the people there erected a "Pearl Pavilion" on a wayside, where people came by boat in hopes to see the mysterious flying object.
[Dong (2000), 70–71.]
Physico-geographical characteristics
![KHANKA LAKE](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/KHANKA_LAKE.jpg)
Lake Khanka, the largest lake in
Primorsky Krai
Primorsky Krai (russian: Приморский край, r=Primorsky kray, p=prʲɪˈmorskʲɪj kraj), informally known as Primorye (, ), is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia, located in the Far East region of the country and is a part of the ...
, is located in the centre of the Khankan lowland on the border with the People's Republic of China in
Heilongjiang Province
Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...
. The northern part of the lake is in Chinese territory. The lake is pear-shaped, with an extension in its northern part. The surface area of the water is highly variable, depending on climate conditions. The maximum extension reaches , the minimum extension is . The length of the lake is about , the maximum width is . There are 24 rivers flowing into Lake Khanka, with only one outflow:
Songacha River, which connects it with the
Ussuri
The Ussuri or Wusuli (russian: Уссури; ) is a river that runs through Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais, Russia and the southeast region of Northeast China. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, flowing north and forming part of the Si ...
, and that in turn with the
Amur River
The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...
system.
Lake Khanka is a shallow body of water, with an average depth of and a prevailing depth of ; the greatest depth is . Its average volume is , though it can fill up to . The water in the lake is cloudy, which is explained by frequent winds and, as a result, strong mixing. On average, the water inflow is about per year, and the outflow about .
On the northern (Chinese) shore lies Little Lake Khanka ( zh, c=小兴凯湖, p=''Xiaoxingkai Hu'';
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
: о́зеро Малая Ха́нка, ''ozero Malaya Khanka''), separated from Lake Khanka proper by a narrow sandy spit.
Khanka Lake freezes in the second half of November and thaws in April.
The fauna and flora of Lake Khanka are rich in species. In 1971, the
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It i ...
gave the lake the status of a
wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
of international importance. In 1990, the
Khanka Nature Reserve
Khanka Nature Reserve (russian: Ханкайский заповедник ''Khankaiskiy zapavyednik'') (also Khankaisky) is a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict nature reserve) that covers portions of the shore and waters of Lake Khanka, the largest fres ...
was organized in part of the then-
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
basin of Lake Khanka. In April 1996, an agreement was signed between the Governments of the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China on the establishment of an international Russian-Chinese nature reserve around the lake, from the Khankai Reserve in Russia and the Chinese Singkai-Hu Reserve.
The wetlands of the Lake Khanka basin (Водно-болотные угодья озера Ханка, ''Vodno-bolotnye ugod'ya ozera Khanka'') represent a unique natural complex. The lowland of the Prihanka and, in fact, the shores of the lake represent a fairly swampy terrain. So-called melt-plant communities, formed by various species of sedge and grass, form a solid turf covering the water mirror for many tens of square kilometers. Diverse ecosystems are represented, such as meadows (from marshy to steppe), meadow forest, forest-steppe and steppe plant communities. In the lake itself there are many species of fish and aquatic invertebrates, many of which are endemic. In the lake there live 52 species of fish, among them such as
carp
Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...
,
perch
Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Percif ...
,
silver carp
The silver carp (''Hypophthalmichthys molitrix'') is a species of freshwater cyprinid fish, a variety of Asian carp native to China and eastern Siberia, from the Amur River drainage in the north to the Xi Jiang River drainage in the south. Alt ...
,
catfish
Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...
, and
snakehead. A variety of birds nest and stop on the lake or its banks.
The lake's
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
covers an area of , of which 97% is in Russian territory. It is fed by 23 rivers (8 in China and 15 in Russia), but the only outflow of the lake is the
Songacha River.
The maximum monthly mean
temperature
Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer.
Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied o ...
is in July, while the minimum monthly mean temperature is in January.
Rainfall
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...
mainly occurs in summer, with average annual precipitation of 500–650 mm annually.
The
residence time
The residence time of a fluid parcel is the total time that the parcel has spent inside a control volume (e.g.: a chemical reactor, a lake, a human body). The residence time of a set of parcels is quantified in terms of the frequency distribution ...
of Lake Khanka is 9.9 years.
Popular Culture: The surveyors in the 1975 Akira Kurosawa film "
Dersu Uzala
Dersu Uzala (russian: Дерсу Узала; 1849–1908) was a Nanai trapper and hunter. He worked as a guide for Vladimir Arsenyev who immortalized him in his 1923 book '' Dersu Uzala''. The book was adapted into two feature films, with the ve ...
" were sent to explore the Lake Khanka region.
Biodiversity and environment
![Khanka](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Khanka.jpg)
The lake is an important area for birds, and includes a number of endangered species.
References
{{Authority control
Khanka
Khanka
Khanka
China–Russia border
Geography of the Russian Far East
Manchuria
Bodies of water of Heilongjiang
Biosphere reserves of China
Biosphere reserves of Russia
Ramsar sites in China
Ramsar sites in Russia