Qilu Lake () is a plateau lake in

Yunnan Province Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

, in southwestern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The lake has a total area of about 36.86 square kilometers. The average depth is 4.03 m, with an elevation of 1796.75 m. the water storage capacity is about 1.486×10⁸m³. The lake is named after the Qilu mountain (nowadays called Xiushan), directly south of Tonghai county seat. During the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

, the lake used to be larger and reach up to the base of this mountain. The lake has no outlet rivers, but water can leave the area through

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

caves. It has a rich aquatic life, supporting a large population of

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

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 ...

black carp The black carp (''Mylopharyngodon piceus'') or Chinese black roach is a species of cyprinid freshwater fish and the sole extant species of the genus ''Mylopharyngodon''. It is native to lakes and rivers in East Asia, ranging from the Amur Basin ...

herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...

, and

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, ...

.http://history.kunming.cn/index/content/2009-06/30/content_1908616.htm According to local legend, the area around the lake used to be flooded and was called Tonghai. A monk used a

shippei A is a bamboo staff which curves slightly, approximately 15 inches (or half a metreKoun, 205-206) long, which is used as a "symbol of a Zen master's authority" in Zen Buddhism.Baroni, 300 In contrast to the '' keisaku'', the shippei was often used ...

to make a hole in the lake bed and allow water to flow out. In the 20th century, the lake size was reduced due to

soil erosion Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, air (wind), plants, and ...

and land reclamation, as well as the lake becoming polluted. Since the 1990s, measures have been taken to reverse this.

Notes

{{Lakes of China Lakes of Yunnan Geography of Yuxi