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Dunhuang Crescent Lake
Dunhuang Crescent Lake
Yueyaquan or Crescent Lake is a crescent-shaped lake in an oasis, 6 km south of the city of Dunhuang in Gansu Province, China. It was named Yueyaquan in the Qing Dynasty. According to measurements made in 1960, the average depth of the lake was 4 to 5 meters, with a maximum depth of 7.5 meters. In the following 40 years, the depth of the lake continually declined. In the early 1990s, its area had shrunk to only 1.37-acre (5,500 m2) with an average depth of 0.9 meter (maximum 1.3 meter).
The Crescent Lake is an oasis Gobi desert, which is surrounded the numerous sand dunes. The dunes reach a relative height of 250 meters (820 feet). The climb to the top is rewarded with the dramatic view back across the rolling desert sands towards the oasis. Descending the dunes is quite easy – silde down the dune to the sound of rumbling sands or the sound of thunder or a drum-roll as the wind sweeps across the sands. The Mingsha Shan is so named for the sound of the wind whipping off the dunes.
Dunhuang Crescent Lake
Along the side of the Crescent Lake is a pagoda in traditional Han Chinese architecture. A street lined with souvenir stalls leads up from the entrance to the complex. Many tourists ride camels here, organized by the complex operators, to get to the summit of the sand dunes. Typically the camels are guided by a local camel escort, who include both women and men. At the dunes, a popular activity for tourists is to ride sleds down the sand slopes, much like snow-sledding during winter in temperate zones.
In the past decades, the Crescent Lake kept shrinking while the desert expanded step by step.In 2006, the local government with help of central government has started to to fill the lake and restore its depth, its dept and size has been growing yearly since then. The lake and the surrounding deserts are very popular with tourists, who are offered camel and 4x4 rides.
How to get there
Dunhuang Crescent Lake
Tourists can take bus No. 3 (about 1 Yuan) or taxi (about 15 Yuan) to the lake. If you are vigorous enough, you can rent a bicycle (about 1 Yuan per hour) in Mingsha Lu and ride to the sight spot. Entering the entrance to the scenic spot, tourists can take a camelback tour to the beautiful lake (about 30 Yuan per person for the round trip).
