Sayram Lake (Lake Sailimu National Park 赛里木湖) is located along the northern branch of the historic Northern Silk Road. It is the largest (458 km2) and highest (2,073 meters) alpine lake in China’s Xinjiang.
Sayram Lake is one of the most biodiverse region in Northwest China. Human activities are limited around the lake, and the unique wetland ecosystems around the lake exert significant importance to the hydrology and climate of northern Xinjiang.
It features transparent water with changing colors, snow-covered mountains, numerous kinds of wild flowers as well as breathtaking sunrise and sunset, which together make for some of the most spectacular sights on earth.
Sayram Lake, also known as Santai Haizi or historically the “Clean Sea”, is a freshwater lake in the northern Tianshan Mountains at Börtala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, China, less than 50 km from the border with Kazakhstan. The name Sayram originally derives from Kazakh, meaning “blessing”.
The lake is an endorheic lake, that is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other, external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans ), but instead forms permanent and seasonal lakes and swamps.
Source: 美丽中国 BeautifulChina, July 11, 2024.