The colors of Xinjiang (6)

Located on the rim of the Taklamakan, China’s largest desert, the turquoise ‘lake of goddess’ teems with life. For generations it has nourished the local Lop Nur people, becoming the spirit of their culture. On the magnificent snow-covered Tianshan Mountains, the Tianchi, an alpine lake whose name means “the lake of heaven” and home of the local Kazakh people, emit a charm as breathtaking as sapphires.

It is hard to imagine that Xinjiang, one fourth of the region is covered by desert, could have so many beautiful lakes, whose blue color adds coolness and vitality to the barren lands. Over the past decades, some of those lakes have dried up, shrank, and have now been revitalized. Their stories form the best narrative for Xinjiang’s environmental protection efforts, and the perfect examples of nature’s power to wreak havoc on humans’ lives, as well as its role as a salvation of our spirit and culture.

For Xinjiang, blue is the new color, blue is a new trend. The stories of two lakes in Xinjiang remind us how beautiful Xinjiang is, and of the remarkable efforts made by the locals and the governments to preserve nature. 

People’s Daily Online has launched “The Colors of Xinjiang”, a series of in-depth reports that will provide our readers a complete and vivid picture of Xinjiang. The following story focuses on Xinjiang’s enviromental protection.

For more stories about Xinjiang's enviromental protection: Diving for blue gold: lake of heaven, fishermen in desert