Concept

Erhai Lake

Summary
Erhai or Er Lake (), is an alpine fault lake in Dali City, Dali Prefecture, Yunnan province, China. Erhai was also known as Yeyuze () or Kunming Lake () in ancient times. The character "洱" (er) does not have the same meaning as ear (耳). During the Han to Tang dynasty, there was an ancient ethnic named Kunming Yi or Kunming Barbarian () lived in the neighbouring region of Erhai lake. Therefore, the lake was also called "Kunming Lake". The Kunming Yi has another name Kun-mi (). In the following time, Chinese literature recorded the name "昆弥" as "昆弭" (Kun-mi) that "弭" is a rebus of "弥". And the name of the lake was also be changed to the character "渳" (mi) which has a water-meaning radical () attached to it. Fang Guoyu believe the name "洱" (er) was simplified from "渳", after that the name "Erhai" continues to this day. According to Bai scholar's research, the "Yeyu" in the Chinese name "Yeyuze" (ze [泽] means lake) is evolved from Bai language which means "lower water", the pronunciation written in IPA as /jɛ33ji33/. In the Bai language Dali dialect, the "lower" (/jɛ33/) is also pronounced /ɛɹ33/. Xu Lin believe the Chinese name "洱" is evolved from /ɛɹ33/. Erhai is situated at above sea level. In size, the North-South length of the lake is and the East-West width is roughly . Its area is , making it the second largest highland lake in China, after Dianchi Lake. Its circumference reaches , its average depth is of and the total storage capacity of . The lake serves as a backdrop to all of Dali City and sandwiches Dali Town in the west against the Cang Mountain. The lake's head is at Shangguan Town, its northern extremity, and its southernmost point is at Xiaguan Town. The lake receives water from the Miju and Mici Rivers in the north, the Bolou River in the east, and smaller streams from the Cang Mountains in the west. Yangbi River, to the south, is the lake's outlet and eventually flows into the Lancang River (Mekong River). The lakeshore can be explored by hiking. Highlights include Erhai Park and the Butterfly Springs on the Western bank.
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