Crescent Lake (Dunhuang)

Yueya Quan (Chinese月牙泉, Pinyin yueya Quán, crescent source '), also: " Crescent Lake ", is a crescent-shaped lake in a 6 km south of the city of Dunhuang in Gansu province located oasis, surrounded by high dunes. She bears her name since the Qing Dynasty. It is adjacent to the up to 300 m high so-called " echoing " or "singing " sand dunes ( Mingsha Shan) Kumtag the desert, which is part of the Taklamakan Desert. A haven it was important reference point for travelers on the Silk Road.

A historically occupied phenomenon is that the lake is not bogged down despite adjacent desert and sand storms for over 2000 years. Presumably rising from the underground artesian water feeds the lake and on the other hand leads to a penetration of the sand around him. If the water content of the dunes which exceeds 4 % increases the resistance of the dunes against wind erosion. The more moisture is bound in the dunes, the more stable they are and grow even higher. If, as happened, decreases by excessive exploitation of the groundwater resources of the water table, it can lead to drying of the dunes and the previously bound in the wet dune sand is moved by the wind again.

Measurements from 1960 stated the average depth of the lake with 4 to 5 meters, with a maximum depth of 7.5 meters. However, the amount of water continuously decreased over the next 40 years and thus the depth of the lake. In the early nineties, the lake had only an area of ​​5,500 m² at an average depth of only about one meter ( max. depth 1.3 m). 2006 undertook the local government, together with the help of the central government, efforts to fill the lake again and restore its depth once again.

The lake with its pagoda, the "singing " sand dunes ( Mingsha Shan) and the surrounding desert constitute a tourist attraction.

Sea of ​​flowers on Yueya Quan

Yueya Quan Dunhuang (2009)