Characteristics of Lakes in Tibet
There are a lot of mountains and canyons in the Southeastern Tibet, deep rivers and lakes in quantity, but smaller in individuals; in southern Tibet, there are a large area of ​​the lake, such as the famous Lake Manasarovar, Yamdrok Lake and so on. Inland of the northern Tibet is the most concentrated area of lakes, the lake area is ​​about 21,000 square kilometers, accounting for more than 88% of the total area of ​​lakes in Tibet, and more than 1/4 of the total area of the lakes in China. During August and September, the surface water temperature of those lakes in the northern Tibet are above 10-12 ℃. Except for those salt lakes in Tibet, other lakes are deep.
Most medium-sized lakes in Tibet are with dark blue and crystal clear water, which are more than splendid. Combined with the surrounding snow-capped mountains’ shadow, the amazing scenery is quiet pleasant. The transparency of the lakes in Tibet is above 10 meters, the highest is measured 14 meters. Lake Manasarovar is located beside the source region of Yarlung Zangbo River, with clear freshwater reserves of 20 billion cubic meters. It is one of the world's highest freshwater lakes. The lake is also a "Sacred lake”. Every year, there are a large number of Nepalese, Indian pilgrims and tourists travelling all the way here to pilgrimage.
The largest lake in Tibet is Namsto , which, with an area of 1,920 sq km makes it the second largest salt-water lake in China, and, at an altitude of 4,718 meters the highest salt-water lake in the world. Lake Manasarovar , shares its fame as being one of the 'Three Holy Lakes in Tibet' with Namsto and Yamdrok Yumtso , is the highest freshwater lake in the world. With over 1,500 lakes dotted around the vast Tibetan plateau, 47 exceed an area of 100 sq km (39 sq miles), with the total surface area being approximately 1/3 of that of China's lakes.