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Golmud, Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China
Largest salt lake in China with amazing scenery
Qarhan Salt Lake, also known as Chaerhan Salt Lake, is located in Golmud, Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai Province. With length of more than 160 kilometers from east to west and width from 20 to 40 kilometers, Qarhan Salt Lake is the largest salt lake in China and second largest salt lake in the world.
Qarhan is Mongolian, which means salt marsh. Qarhan Salt Lake is like an emerald with the green color of the lake. And the salt flower formed by the salt in the middle of the lake is crystal and breathtaking. The crystal water, amazing salt flowers and salt bridge attract many tourists to Qarhan Salt Lake. With industrial heritage, spectacular natural salt landscapes and photographic magic, Qarhan Salt Lake is highly recommended if you plan a trip to Qinghai-Tibet plateau or exploring western China.
Name: Qarhan Salt Lake(察尔汗盐湖)
Location: Golmud, Qinghai, located about 70 kilometers from Golmud
Altitude: Over 2,600 meters
Highlight: Mirrored, jade-green lake with endless salt plains
Salt flowers: Naturally formed beautiful crystal with various shapes
Salt Bridge: A 32-kilometer salt road, and you can even walk or drive over it
Industrial Heritage: Qarhan Salt Lake is rich in potassium and magnesium salt resources, with a reserve of 50 billion tons. It is the main producing area of potassium and magnesium salt in China, which can be eaten by 6 billion people all over the world for 1000 years.
Spectacular natural salt landscapes: The slat flower at the Qarhan Salt Lake is beautiful and magnificent with diverse shapes and crystal color. They are just like flowers on the green lake. And the Salt Bridge is also magical, which is a salt road can be walked and driven.
Photographic magic: The wonderful color of the Qarhan Salt Lake and beautiful salt flowers in the lake are paradise for nature and photography lovers. Photos taken at the Qarhan Salt Lake are really wonderful and impressive.
Qarhan Salt Lake was formed hundreds of millions of years ago. It used to be sea. With the crustal movement, the Himalayan mountains rose, forming the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and big and small lakes were formed because of the loss of seawater. The closed terrain made the runoff in the basin continuously converge into the lake, and the salt also flew into the lake with the runoff. At the same time, under the action of dry climate, the high-concentration brine in the lake gradually crystallized into salt, and finally the present Qarhan Salt Lake is formed.
All the green plants in Qarhan Salt Lake are difficult to grow, but they have bred magical salt flowers that are crystal with various shapes. Salt flower is the name of crystal with beautiful shape formed when salt is crystallized in salt lake. In the crystallization process of brine, due to different concentrations, different durations and different compositions, various forms of salt flowers are formed.
Thousand Island Salt Flower is caused by the evaporation and crystallization of water in the salt field, which makes the salt grow continuously and finally emerge from the water surface to form salt crystal flowers like islands. In addition, the salt crystals in the salt field are combined with mineral-rich water bodies at different angles of sunlight, and the salt content, weather, temperature and air humidity, or the distance between people's viewing, and other factors are different, forming the scene we see before our eyes, which is shaped like pearls, corals or shapes.
The Salt Bridge is actually a wide salt road paved with salt built on the Qarhan Salt Lake. The salt road is like a bridge floating on the brine. The total length of the salt bridge is 32 kilometers. The jade-belt-like Salt Bridge has no guardrails, no piers and no running water. The whole road surface is smooth, bright and straight. The Salt Bridge divides the whole Qarhan Salt Lake in half, which is a rare road and bridge project in the world and a wonder in the Qaidam Basin.
The Slat Bridge is completely formed by repeated watering, rolling and crystallizing of salt and brine. If there are potholes on the Salt Bridge, the maintenance workers will take some salt from the nearby salt fields, spread them in the potholes, and then pour brine for crystallization. After that, the road surface will soon be leveled again, and its bearing capacity will reach an astonishing 60 tons per square meter, so the plane can easily take off and land. Not far away, there are the world-famous Qinghai-Tibet Railway. A series of long snake-like trains, smoking and roaring, pass on the lake, which is spectacular.
The best time to visit Qarhan Salt Lake is from May to October with pleasant weather. During this time, the temperature at Qarhan Salt Lake is mild and relatively dry. And the Qarhan’s vivid emerald-green brine and salt crystal formations are most beautiful under the sunlight. Visiting Qarhan Salt Lake in the morning or late afternoon, the light is softer and the reflections are better.
Qarhan Salt Lake is located in the high-altitude place, please bring sunglasses, sunscreen and closed footwear to keep the safety of yourselves. Please pay attention to your safety while walking on the salt lake.
Qarhan Salt Lake is about 700 kilometers from Xining, and you can choose car or high-speed train to get to Qarhan Salt Lake from Xining.
Xining-Qarhan Salt Lake:
High-speed train&taxi: To get to Qarhan Salt Lake from Xining, you can first take high-speed train to Golmud Railway Station from Xining(taking about 5.5 hours), then take the taxi to the Qarhan Salt Lake, taking about 2 hours.
By car: To get to Qarhan Salt Lake from Xining, TCT can also arrange car for you, which is convenient.
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