Yamdrok Yongcuo means "Jasper Lake" and "Swan Pond" in Tibetan. The locals also call it Yang Lake, but this is not the Yang Lake in northern Tibet, so there is no People who have been there are easily confused. Yamdrok Yongtso is known as one of the "Three Holy Lakes" in Tibet. It is located in Langkazi County, Shannan City, Tibet Autonomous Region, about 70 kilometers southwest of Lhasa.
Yamdrok Yumcuo is a large freshwater lake with an altitude of 4441 meters. The average depth of the lake is between 20 and 40 meters, and the deepest place is about 60 meters. Yamdrok Yumcuo is about 130 kilometers long from east to west, with a total area of ??about 638 square kilometers and a maximum water capacity of 14.6 billion cubic meters. It is also the largest inland lake at the northern foot of the Himalayas.
Because Yamdrok Lake has many branches and crisscrosses it, it looks like a coral branch on the map, so it is also called "the coral lake above" in Tibetan. Yamdrok Lake not only has charming scenery, but also contains a large amount of "wealth". According to statistics, the entire Yamdrok Lake has more than 800 million kilograms of fishery resources. So, where do so many fish come from, and why does no one dare to eat them locally?
Yamdrok Yongcuo enjoys the reputation of "Tibetan Fish Depository" in Tibet. Based on this name, you can imagine how many fish there are. In fact, these fish did not exist at the beginning, but were bred continuously over a long period of time. Among the more than 800 million kilograms of fish in Yamdrok Yongtso, the largest number is plateau naked carp.
Plateau naked carp, also known as Vacheron naked carp, is a species of carp family with high edible value. It is mainly distributed in Yamdrok Lake, Duoqin Lake, Zhegu Lake and Kegu Lake in Tibet. Lakes and rivers such as Rouen Lake, Moultrie Lake and Tingri Luqu River. Plateau naked carp is a bottom-dwelling fish, mainly cyanobacteria, zooplankton and cladoceran larvae.
The plateau naked carp has a strong reproductive capacity. June is their breeding season every year. The number of eggs a female fish carries each time is about 1,086 to 11,400. At the same time, there are almost no ferocious carnivorous fish in the entire Yangzhuo Yumcuo waters. In an environment without the threat of natural enemies, fish living in lakes can reproduce in large numbers.
In fact, the reason why Yamdrok Yongcuo allows fish to thrive well is actually due to the local people's awareness of protecting environmental resources. The water quality of Yamdrok Yumcuo is very pure and there are no sources of pollution. However, the lake water is rich in plankton. There are abundant food sources for fish, so it has become a paradise for fish.
In fact, many people, like me, have been wondering whether Tibetans eat fish or not? Therefore, many people think that Tibetans do not eat fish. In fact, this statement is not completely correct, because several of my classmates are from Aba Prefecture, and I see that they often eat fish when eating. Not only that, they also go fishing like us when they have time.
According to them, the vast majority of local people do not eat fish, and only a small number of people eat fish. Since Tibetans eat fish, why doesn’t anyone eat the fish from Yamdrok Yongtso? In fact, it is not that fish from Yamdrok Yongtso cannot be eaten, but it is related to the local folk customs in Tibet. Yamdrok Yongcuo has a very high status in the hearts of Tibetans. Many people even believe in her as the female protector of Tibetan areas, so they are in awe of everything in the "holy lake".
Judging from the Tibetan people’s eating habits, they mainly eat beef and mutton, so they also slaughter the cattle and sheep they raise. Although this is also killing, local people believe that killing a cow can feed the whole family for nearly a month, and a sheep can feed for about a week. Since most Tibetans believe in Tibetan Buddhism, if they choose to eat fish, they must often kill animals because the portions of fish and shrimp are small. This is also to reduce and avoid harming small animals.
In addition, in fact, in Tibet, not only the fish in Yamdrok Yongtso no one dares to eat, almost all fish in Tibetan areas are not caught, because the custom of water burial was once popular in Tibet.
In the minds of Tibetans, the fish in the "holy lake" can lead the souls of the dead to the paradise world, so the locals believe that the souls of their ancestors are still attached to the fish. Therefore, fishing and catching fish at Yamdrok Lake will be stopped by local people.
The entire Yamdrok Yumcuo is very rich in fishery resources. There are so many fish in the lake that you can catch them with your bare hands. Especially during the breeding season in June, a large number of naked carp will swim to the shore to breed. But when these fish breed, they are sometimes caught by tourists. If they are seen by local Tibetans, they will advise them not to hurt them. These fish are spiritual.
The fish that live in Yamdrok Lake are very lucky. Not only are they not threatened by natural enemies, they will not be hunted by humans. Therefore, most of the fish that live here die of old age, because Tibetans never eat fish from the "Holy Lake".