Sunset of Dongting Lake, Hunan province. Dongting Lake, China's second-largest freshwater lake, is located in Northeastern Hunan province. It is a large, shallow body of water surrounded by mountain chains. Depending on the season, concentric ridges of land appear in the lake in many areas. This is because the lake acts as a flood basin for the Yangtze River. The appearance of Dongting Lake changes throughout different seasons, sometimes even during the same day.[Photo/icpress]