China's version of the Loch Ness monster

[bhchao]

China has its own version of Nessie, called the "Lake Tianchi Monster". There were many reported sightings of this creature dating back to 1903, including one as recently as last year. This creature is said to reside in Lake Tianchi in Jilin province. Scientists have said that the lake's volcanic activity makes life unsuitable for such a monster.

Someone should send a submerged vehicle under the lake and scour the depths for such a creature.

http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/issues/2003/16/Travel_Monster

[liuzhou]

Monsters popping up everywhere! Nothing to do with tourist trade of course

"Chinese scientists will launch an expedition next month to search for fabled "lake monsters" in north-west China's Xinjiang region, state media said.

For hundreds of years there have been rumours in Xinjiang's Altay Prefecture that mysterious monsters live in the prefecture's Kanasi Lake, devouring livestock, the Xinhua news agency said.

As horses, cattle or sheep went missing near the lake every year, the legend grew.

In 1985, teachers and students from the Xinjiang University Department of Biology discovered that dozens of huge red fish, each 10 to 15 metres long and weighing more than four tonnes, lived in the lake.

A large-scale scientific exploration on the "lake monsters" of Kanasi, the deepest alpine lake in China, was made in 1987.

As a result of the two-year exploration, scientists discovered a school of some 30 to 40 big fish, each three to four metres long.

They concluded that the fish, a species of Taimen - a mighty salmonid that grows to monstrous proportions - were the "monsters" making mischief in the lake, Xinhua said.

But researchers still do not know how many Taimen are living in the lake or how long they have been there, how big the largest one is and whether the livestock that have gone missing for hundreds of years were really devoured by the fish.

The exploration, scheduled to last 10 days, will be made jointly by a Chinese scientific exploration team, the underwater photography team of the Chinese Underwater Association and the environmental and tourism administrative bureau of Kanasi.

Some media, including the state-run China Central Television Station, will also participate in the exploration.

Kanasi Lake is located at the centre of the Kanasi nature reserve, the only Chinese reserve located at the bordering region of China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Russia.

The lake monster legends have helped the Kanasi area attract increasing numbers of visitors, Xinhua said.

By August 1, Kanasi had seen some 183,000 visitors both from home and abroad - 63 per cent more than the same period last year. The area has earned 140 million yuan ($A23.38 million) from tourism, according to Xinhua."