Xinjiang Tourism Consultation Hotline: 0991-8585456 (same)
"Life is like a journey, it doesn’t matter where the destination is, what matters is the scenery along the way and the mood to enjoy it." Look at the continuous mountains, the beaded plains, the deep canyons, and the high-altitude glaciers, each one can satisfy our imagination of traveling life. Here, the Life Expert editor has specially prepared a travel guide for you who wants to travel, enjoy the excitement of adventure while playing, and pack your bag to experience the feeling of being on the road! When mentioning Xinjiang, you must think that it is nothing more than endless deserts, steep mountains, Gobi deserts, ancient city sites, etc., and it is difficult to compare it with the picturesque scenery of the south. However, the unique beauty of Xinjiang’s rivers, lakes, and seas is unparalleled, complementing Xinjiang’s vastness, grandeur, and peculiarity. The four major lakes of Xinjiang, located in the southeast, southwest, northwest, and northeast, are Tianchi, Bosten Lake, Sayram Lake, and Kanas Lake, respectively, and they are compared to the four great beauties of ancient China: Diaochan, Yang Yuhuan, Wang Zhaojun, and Xi Shi. Tianchi is comparable to Diaochan, luxurious and bright; Bosten Lake is Yang Yuhuan, dignified and graceful; Sayram Lake is like Wang Zhaojun, elegant and profound; Kanas Lake belongs to Xi Shi, graceful and composed.
The beautiful scenery of Tianchi
Diaochan – Tianchi
The scenery of Tianchi is as luxurious and bright as Diaochan.
Tianchi has a beautiful legend.
The Jade Emperor and Queen Mother of the West have seven daughters, who are the Seven Fairies often mentioned by people. One day, the seven daughters felt lonely in heaven and flew down to play in the sky above the earth. They flew over grasslands and Gobi deserts and saw the snow-capped Bogda Peak towering into the clouds from afar.
They circled the peak a few times and loved this towering mountain very much. They quickly flew to the sky and asked their mother to build a bathing pool at the foot of Bogda Mountain.
Queen Mother of the West was very fond of her seven daughters and granted their wish. She ordered the Thunder God to dig the Heavenly Lake and the Rain God to rain. The Thunder God spent seven days near Bogda Peak digging the pool, and the Rain God continuously rained for 40 days, finally forming a lake, which is Tian Shan Heavenly Lake.
Due to its construction specifically for the Seven Fairies to bathe, Tian Shan Heavenly Lake is steaming hot, making it an ideal bathing pool on earth.
Nowadays, people like to go there to seek cool and relax during summer.
In fact, Tian Shan Heavenly Lake is located on the northern slope of Bogda Peak in the eastern foothills of the Tian Shan Mountains. The lake surface is at an altitude of 1900 meters, with a depth of 90 meters, an east-west width of 1500 meters, and an area of 4.9 square kilometers.
The uniquely scenic Tian Shan Heavenly Lake attracts a steady stream of Chinese and foreign tourists, becoming a renowned tourist attraction in the northwest border region.
The lakeside gleams with vibrant colors and picturesque scenery. Tian Chi (Heavenly Lake) truly resembles a huge, crystal-clear sapphire, which, together with the surrounding peculiar horn peaks, knife-edge ridges, ice gates, and the Bogda Peak piercing the sky and covering the clouds, forms a fairyland on earth that is both realistic and illusory.
Scenery of Kanas Lake
Xi Shi – Kanas Lake
"Kanas Lake" is a Mongolian term meaning "beautiful and fertile, mysterious and unpredictable". It is renowned for the beautiful scenery composed of Kanas Lake and the surrounding snowy mountains, grasslands, and birch forests, and is known as the "Eastern Switzerland" and "Photographer’s Heaven". It is a color-changing lake, as graceful and composed as Xi Shi in front of King Chu.
Kanas in autumn is picturesque. Every golden autumn, the birch forest turns golden yellow, contrasting with the silver snowy mountains, and the wooden huts of the Tuvans by the forest edge appear even more serene.
Kanas Lake is the core essence of the Kanas National Nature Reserve and one of the deep lakes in China. The lake is surrounded by lush coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests, which are connected with the vast mountain grasslands.
In July and August, climbing up to the Fish Viewing Pavilion at an altitude of 2030 meters to overlook the scenery of Kanas Lake, you will be amazed by the colorful wonders on the lake surface.
Under the blue sky and white clouds, the lake surface resembles a huge color palette, with patches of deep, shallow, blue, and green water, changing endlessly and presenting a magnificent view.
In Kanas, you can enjoy the beauty of the "Bao Guang" (halo). People call it "Buddha’s Light". It blends seamlessly with the Kanas Lake scenery, the silver-glinting glaciers, the lush green grasslands, the boundless forests, and the light floating mountain mist, creating a breathtaking interplay of lights and shadows.
Kanas Lake is an extremely rare area in China with a European ecosystem. There are 798 species of plants in the reserve, including 30 rare plants, 39 animals, 117 bird species, and 7 fish species. Among them, there are 5 first-grade protected animals, 13 second-grade protected animals, 9 other rare animals, and more than 60 new species records of insects and fungi.
The extraordinary, unique, beautiful, and gorgeous natural scenery of Kanas has won the praise of national leaders, experts and scholars, as well as numerous tourists.
The Tuwa people reside in the Tuwa Village at Kanas Lake in Altay and the Tuwa Village in Baihaba.
Kanas Lake and the Tuwa people complement each other and merge into one, forming the unique ethnic flavor of the Kanas Lake tourist area.
Wang Zhaojun – Sayram Lake
On the way to Yili, the lake that catches the eye is Sayram Lake.
The unparalleled beauty of Sayram Lake is akin to Wang Zhaojun’s journey to the northern borders, elegant and profound.
Living in a Mongolian yurt close to the lake, eating mutton, savoring delicious yogurt, lying in bed and looking through the doorway at the blue lake water, with a few waterbirds circling above the surface, your heart will also take flight.
After having a hearty meal, you can ride a horse up the mountain to the viewing platform, where you can see the full view of the Guozi Valley and a spectacular waterfall.
Aerial views of the lake offer a different kind of scenery.
The viewing platform is situated on a flat grassy dam. From here, one can see the panoramic view of the Guozi Valley stretching out before their eyes.
Through the mountains dense with pine forests, one can see even higher mountains covered in snow. Higher than the snowy mountains are the proud eagles soaring at the peaks of the mountains and on the wings of the clouds.
Looking back at Sayram Lake, it resembles an incredibly dazzling blue gem that has fallen from the sky and lies quietly on the grassland.
Pictures of the Beautiful Scenery of Bosten Lake
Yang Guifei – Bosten Lake
Bosten Lake is one of the largest inland freshwater lakes in China. It is both the terminus of the Kaidu River and the source of the Kongque River. With the changing of the seasons, Bosten Lake gives people a sense of dignity and grace, which is very aptly described by comparing it to Yang Guifei.
Bosten Lake also has a beautiful legend. It is said that a long time ago, this place was a vast grassland with abundant water and grass. There was a young couple in love, the young man named Bosteng and the young woman named Gaya.
It is unknown when the Rain God in the sky discovered the beautiful Gaya and wanted to force her to be his wife. Gaya refused to comply until death. The Rain God was furious and did not let any rain fall for years, causing a severe drought on the grassland.
Brave Bosteng fought with the Rain God for ninety-nine days and eighty-one nights, and finally subdued him. However, Bosteng died of exhaustion.
Gaya was overwhelmed with grief and her tears turned into a large body of lake water. She later died of sorrow and indignation.
In honor of them, the local herdsmen named this lake ‘Bosten Lake’.
Legend has it that Tang Monk was blocked by the Flowing Sand River not far from here on his way to fetch Buddhist scriptures from the West. Moved by Tang Monk and his companions’ determination to retrieve the true scriptures, the third prince of the Western Sea Dragon King, with the enlightenment of Guanyin Bodhisattva, transformed into a white horse and carried Tang Monk and his party across the Flowing Sand River safely.
The sunrises, sunsets, morning glows, evening glows, morning mists, and moonlight reflections on the calm lake at Bosten Lake are extremely poetic and picturesque, serving as one of the sources of inspiration for photography enthusiasts.
Xinjiang Tourism Consultation Hotline: 0991-8585456 (same)