Heaven Lake

This article is about the lake on the Sino-North Korean border. For the lake in northwest China, see Heavenly Lake of Tianshan. For the novel by John Dalton, see Heaven Lake (novel).

"Lake Chon" redirects here. For the UK, see Loch Chon. For other topics, see Chon (disambiguation).

Heaven Lake (Chinese: 天池; pinyin: Tiān Chí; Korean: 천지) is a volcanic crater lake atop Paektu Mountain. It lies on the border between China and North Korea, and is roughly evenly divided between the two countries.^[1][2]

Heaven Lake 天池 천지
Heaven Lake 天池 천지
Location	China and North Korea
Coordinates	42.006°N 128.057°E / 42.006; 128.057
Type	Crater lake
Primary inflows	Precipitation
Basin countries	China and North Korea
Surface area	9.82 km2 (3.79 sq mi)
Average depth	213 m (699 ft)
Max. depth	384 m (1,260 ft)
Water volume	2.09 km3 (0.50 cu mi)
Surface elevation	2,189.1 m (7,182 ft)

Heaven Lake
Chinese name
Chinese	天池
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Tiānchí Wade–Giles T'ien1 -ch'ih2
Korean name
Hangul	천지
Hanja	天池
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Cheonji McCune–Reischauer Ch'ŏnji
Manchu name
Manchu script	ᡨᠠᠮᡠᠨ ᠣᠮᠣ
Romanization	Tamun omo
Manchu name
Manchu script	ᡨᠠᠮᡠᠨ ᠵᡠᠴᡝ
Romanization	Tamun juce

The Chinese part is in Jilin Province while the North Korean part is in Ryanggang Province.

Geology and limnology

Map including Heaven Lake (labeled as T'IEN CH'IH 天池) and surrounding region (1954)

The caldera which contains Heaven Lake was created by the 946 eruption of Paektu Mountain. The lake has a surface elevation of 2,189.1 m (7,182 ft).^[3] The lake covers an area of 9.82 km² (3.79 sq mi), with a south–north length of 4.85 km (3.01 mi) and an east–west length of 3.35 km (2.08 mi). The average depth of the lake is 213 m (699 ft) and a maximum depth of 384 m (1,260 ft). From mid-October to mid-June, it is typically covered with ice.^{[citation needed]}

History

Names and legends

In ancient Chinese literature, Tianchi also refers to Nanming (南冥 sometimes translated as "southern sea").^{[citation needed]}

North Korean propaganda claims that Kim Jong-il was born near the lake on the mountain. In accordance with this, North Korean state news agencies reported that on his death, the ice on the lake cracked "so loud, it seemed to shake the heavens and the Earth".^[4]

Overhead panorama of Heaven Lake.

Lake Tianchi Monster

Map including Heaven Lake (labeled as T'ien Ch'ih) and surrounding region (1967)^[a]

Heaven Lake is also alleged to be home to the Lake Tianchi Monster.^[5]

On September 6, 2007, Zhuo Yongsheng (director of a TV station's news center run by the administration office of the nature reserve at Mount Changbaishan, Jilin) shot a 20-minute video of six seal-like, finned Lake Tianchi Monsters, near the North Korean border. He sent pictures of the Loch Ness Monster-type creatures to Xinhua's Jilin provincial bureau. One of them showed the creatures swimming in three pairs, in parallel. Another showed them together, leaving ripples on the volcanic lake.^[6]

Notable visits

On September 20, 2018, as part of an Inter-Korean summit, heads of state Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in visited Mount Paektu and Heaven Lake. Moon filled a bottle with water from the lake to take back to South Korea. The visit to the lake was a symbolic gesture, as both the lake and the mountain hold considerable cultural significance to the Korean people.^[7][8] Mount Paektu is mentioned in the anthems of both North and South Korea, and is considered to be the spiritual home of the Koreans.^[9]

In popular culture

The lake is the subject of the song "Tianchi Lake" on The Mountain Goats' 2008 album Heretic Pride.^[10]

See also

• Baekdu-daegan
• Korean Peninsula
• List of lakes of China
• List of lakes of Korea
• Tourism in China
• Tourism in North Korea

Notes

1. (from map: "DELINEATION OF INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES MUST NOT BE CONSIDERED AUTHORITATIVE")