Mingsha Shan and Crescent Lake

You may have seen a circle-shaped lake or a lake with irregular shapes, but have you ever had the experience of seeing a spring formed lake lying in the desert and taking the shape of a crescent?

You may doubt, “how could it be possible a crescent-shaped spring lake exists in the desert “? But I can tell you for sure there is such a lake named Mingsha Mountain Crescent Spring exists in the world.

It is located in Dunhuang City, Gansu Province with a length of 25 m.(82 ft.) from east to west and 100 meters from south to north. Covering an area of 22.5 mu (an ancient unit equals 666.7 sq.m.), the deepest point of the spring reaches 5 m.(16.4 ft.) and is known as the First Spring in the desert.

The spring is surrounded by sand dunes known as Mingsha Mountain. It is so named because when wind blows up grains of sand, the mountain can echo its sound .What makes many people amazed is that the spring never dries during drought spell nor has it ever been buried by sand.

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This is because the sand never slides down from the mountain. Instead, wind blow it up to the top of the mountain. Observing from mid air, the spring is like a crescent dropped on the vast expanse of desert.

The green trees around the lakeside reflected in it again makes it a precious emerald inlaid in the desert. The spring seems to be whistling while rushing down the lake. 

However, with the movement of the sand dunes, the spring is in great danger of being buried. Luckily, a series of measures have been taken to prevent it from drying up. Every year lots of tourists are attracted to see this rare wonder in the desert.

The entrance ticket is 120 CNY (20 USD) and the price varies by season.