Heaven Lake

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"Chon-Ji" redirects here. For the Taekwondo form, see Chon-Ji Hyung.

For the lake in Xinjiang, China, see Tianchi.

Heaven Lake

Location	North Korea / China
Coordinates	42.006° N 128.057° ECoordinates: 42.006° N 128.057° E
Lake type	crater lake
Primary inflows	precipitation
Basin countries	North Korea, China
Surface area	9.82 km² (3.79 sq mi)
Average depth	213 m (699 ft)
Max. depth	384 m (1,260 ft)
Surface elevation	2,189.1 m (7,182 ft)

Korean name

Chosŏn'gŭl	천지
Hancha	天池
McCune-Reischauer	Ch'ŏnji
Revised Romanization	Cheonji

Heaven Lake (Chonji in Korean; Tianchi in Chinese) is a crater lake on the border between China and North Korea. It lies within a caldera atop the volcanic Baekdu Mountain, a part of the Baekdudaegan mountain range and the Changbai mountain range. It is located partly in Ryanggang Province, North Korea, at 42.006° N 128.057° E, and partly in Jilin Province, northeastern China.

At an altitude of 2,189.1 m (7,182 ft), Heaven Lake is the world's highest crater lake, according to the Guinness Book of World Records^[1]. 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 east-west length of 3.35 kilometres (2.08 mi). The average depth of the lake is 213 m (699 ft) and maximum depth of 384 m (1,260 ft). From mid-October to mid-June, Chonji is covered with ice.

In ancient Chinese literature, Tianchi also refers to Nanming (南冥 sometimes translated as "southern sea"). Some other well-known lakes named Tianchi include those in Xinjiang and Taiwan.

In North Korean legend, Kim Jong-il is claimed to be born near the lake on the mountain.

Many believe that the lake is home to the Lake Tianchi Monster.^[2] It is unknown if the monster and legendary Kun are related.

[edit] The Yongsheng video

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 6 seal-like, finned "Lake Tianchi Monsters", near the border with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). He sent pictures of the Loch Ness-type creatures to Xinhua's Jilin provincial bureau. One of them showed the creatures swimming in 3 pairs, in parallel. Another showed them together, leaving ripples on the volcanic lake.^[3]