Dongting Lake, or
Lake Dongting is a large, shallow
lake in northeastern
Hu'nan province,
China. It is a flood basin of the
Yangtze River (Chang Jiang). Hence the lake's size depends on the season. The provinces of
Hubei and Hu'nan are named after their location relative to the lake:
Hubei means "North of the Lake" and
Hu'nan means "South of the Lake" in
Chinese.