China has been blessed with many natural beauties. Crescent Lake is also one of them. The lake is also called Yueyaquan in Chinese. This amazing lake is located 6 km south of the city of Dunhuang in Gansu Province, China. The lake is in the shape of a crescent, hence named Yueyaquan in the Qing Dynasty (Crescent Moon Lake).
The Crescent Lake is nestled deep within the Gobi Desert. It is surrounded by numerous sand dunes winding like a dragon with deep peaks and sharp ridges. The dunes reach a relative height of 250 meters (820 feet). The dunes are covered with sand waves that slide down from the top with a thundering sound. That’s why they are called Singing Sand Dunes.
Overlooking from the top of the dunes, you will see a jadeite-green clear lake flowing peacefully. The lake is 100m long from south to north and 25m wide from east to west with the deepest water level of 5m.
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The water of the crescent lake is so pure and clear that the lake looks like an emerald jewel embedded in the sand. Many facilities are also available along the side of the Lake, including a pagoda in traditional Han Chinese architecture. A street lined with souvenir stalls leads up from the entrance to the complex. One of the amazing things about this lake is that many camels are available, organized by the complex operators, who offer camel rides to many allowing them to get to the sand dunes.
The Crescent Lake is now at least two thousand years old, but the point to worry about is that for the last 30 years it has been gradually disappearing. In 1960, the lake had an average depth of 4 to 5 meters, with a maximum depth of 7.5 meters. Now the average depth of the lake has become only 0.9-1.3 meters.
In 2006, many steps to re-establish the lake were taken place by the local government along with the help of the central government. The officials started to fill the lake in order to restore its depth. Now its depth and size have been growing gradually.
