Yamdrok Yumtso Lake[Photo/Chinadaily]

"Her beauty is breathtaking”. Whoever has been Yamdrok Yumtso Lake will be astonished by the beauty of the lake.

Yamdrok Yumtso Lake lies in Shannan Prefecture, about 100 km from Lhasa. With 4,441 meters altitude and 678 square meters, it is 70 bigger than West Lake in Hangzhou.

It is the incarnation of a fairy maiden. Legend has it that the lake was originallynine small lakes when a fairy maiden worried the lake might dry dead. So she throw gold into the lake, praying and blessing, and then the small lakes connected and became what it is now.

Yamdrok Yumtso Lake is praised as the most beautiful water in the world. In Tibetan, it means "the jade lake on the upper pastureland". It is regarded as the turquoise ear-pedant of a fairy maiden dropping on the Tibetan area.

Among the three holy lakes in Tibet, the Yamdrok Yumtso Lake is respected by the locals for they believe a legend that if the lake ever disappears, it will mark the end of Tibet.

Yamdrok Yumtso Lake in fall:

Yamdrok Yumtso Lake in winter: