Lake Hala (also: Hala Hu, Har Hu), is a closed lake located at 4078m above sea level in the Qilian mountains, at the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, Qinghai Province, China.
Its surface area is 596 km<sup>2</sup>. It is a brackish lake with a salinity of ca 1.8% (18 psu). The shore zone is relatively shallow, while the maximum depth at the center of the lake is 65 m. The lake catchment is a basin of 4690 km<sup>2</sup> without an outflow. The highest surrounding mountains (Shule Nanshan north of the lake), exceed 5800 m above sea level.
Due to the influence of the surrounding glaciers, the water level of the lake and its ecosystem reacts sensitively to meltwater pulses.