In pics: spectacular scenery of Donggi Cona Lake in NW China's Qinghai

Swans float on Donggi Cona Lake in Madoi county, northwest China's Qinghai Province. (People's Daily Online/Yang Qihong)

As frigid air sweeps northwest China's Qinghai Province, Donggi Cona Lake in Madoi county, has started to freeze. The golden grassland, together with swans floating on the deep blue lake and snow-capped mountains, created a magnificent view to behold.

Covering an area of 450 square kilometers, Donggi Cona Lake is surrounded by mountains and peculiar rocks. It is an important source of the Yellow River, China's "mother river," and the third largest freshwater lake in Madoi county, which is renowned as the "source of the Yellow River and the county of a thousand lakes."