Mengda Heavenly Lake 孟达天池

About Mengda Heavenly Lake

The reserve lies within Xunhua Salar Autonomous County, on the special ground where the Qinghai-Tibet and Loess plateaus meet, bordering Gansu to the east, with the Yellow River — China's second-largest river — running east to west through it. The Qinghai provincial government portal describes the terrain as strongly dissected fault-block high mountain, with mountains standing abruptly and rivers cutting sharply, the highest peak Dangrui Shan at 4,182 m and the lowest point on the Yellow River bank at 1,780 m. The Xunhua county government's page gives the reserve as 12 km east to west and 24 km north to south, 17,290 hectares in all, made up of a 6,901.1-hectare core area, a 5,329-hectare buffer zone and a 5,060-hectare experimental area, at elevations between 1,780 m and 4,180 m. It places the reserve 28 km south-east of the county seat.

Mengda Tianchi lies in the reserve's heartland, its water surface at 2,504 m, about 350 m across east to west and about 800 m north to south, the county page records. Five gullies run from south to north into the Yellow River, and in the middle of Muchang gully lies the lake, a barrier lake of about 20 hectares. On its east side the provincial page describes a north-south "natural dam" more than 200 m long and 50–70 m above the water, its body a terminal moraine left after the glacier retreated, and south-east of the lake a fan-shaped waterfall more than 10 m high and 7–8 m wide, full of water in summer and an ice fall in winter. The reserve's forest is mainly coniferous-broadleaf mixed forest with a large area of pure qinggan (青杆) stands, and the provincial page records vegetation banded by altitude and aspect: dry-land plants on the river terraces and dry slopes, deciduous broadleaf forest of poplar, birch and Liaodong oak with Chinese pine and oil pine on the low mountains, coniferous-broadleaf mixed forest of Qinghai spruce, birch and others above that, then subalpine purple-cone spruce and Farges fir, and rhododendron scrub and alpine meadow on the high cold mountains. The county page names sights including Rainbow Waterfall, Immortal Cave, an azalea grove, a century-old crabapple, a Chinese pine valley and Camel Peak, and records 9 mammal species and 68 bird species; the provincial page lists the Chinese grouse as a first-class nationally protected animal and the forest musk deer, bharal and blue eared pheasant as second-class ones, and says the reserve is known as Qinghai's "Xishuangbanna". The county page also records that the county contracted the Mengda Tianchi scenic area to Xunhua Tianyu Tourism Development Co. under an arrangement it describes as separation of government from enterprise with independent accounting.

What to look for

• Mengda Tianchi itself — a barrier lake of about 20 hectares in the reserve's heartland, its water surface at 2,504 m and about 350 m by 800 m
• The north-south "natural dam" on the lake's east side, more than 200 m long and 50–70 m above the water, which the provincial page says is a terminal moraine left after the glacier retreated
• The fan-shaped waterfall south-east of the lake, more than 10 m high and 7–8 m wide, which the provincial page says becomes an ice fall in winter
• The sights the county page names — Rainbow Waterfall, Immortal Cave, an azalea grove, a century-old crabapple, a Chinese pine valley and Camel Peak among them
• The vegetation bands the provincial page records, from dry-land plants on the river terraces through poplar-birch-oak broadleaf forest and Qinghai spruce mixed forest to rhododendron scrub and alpine meadow

Location & getting there

Getting to Mengda Heavenly Lake

Confirm the visitor entrance and which boat or walking routes operate on your date. Rainfall, water levels and weather can change access.

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