2000 Year Old Oasis In China Desert

by **ஜனனி** Thu May 30, 2013 7:27 am

No, it's not a mirage: Tiny 2,000-year-old oasis in China that keeps city alive is saved from being swallowed by desert

Crescent Lake near Dunhuang is a spring in the shape of a half moon
Oasis surrounded by sand dunes was shrinking fast due to desertification
Saved from disappearing after government began to refill it

By
Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED:

16:43 GMT, 13 May 2013

|

UPDATED:

18:35 GMT, 13 May 2013

This ancient oasis in the middle of a
Chinese desert was in danger of disappearing beneath the sands until
the government stepped in to save it.

Located
about 6km south of the city of Dunhuang in north west China, the
Crescent Lake (Yueyaquan in Chinese) is a fresh water spring in the
shape of a half moon.
The
oasis, which is believed to have existed for 2,000 years, was shrinking
fast due to increasing desertification in the region before the
government began to refill it.

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Oasis: Yueyaquan Crescent Lake in Dunhuang,
north west China is completely surrounded by sand dunes. The arid region
barely gets any rain each year

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Remote: The tiny lake was disappearing fast -
with a dramatic decline in water depth during the past three decades -
before the government stepped in to save it

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Restored: The water level is believed to have
risen annually since it began to be refilled in 2006. The site, which is
believed to be about 2,000 years old, is popular with tourists

The lake
has gone from having an average depth of about 5m in 1960, to an average
of less than a meter in the early 1990s as the underground water table
has declined dramatically.
In 2006, the local government decided
to step in and rescue the oasis, refilling it with water. It has
increased in depth since then, Niceartlife.com reports.

The lake is 218m long from east to west and 54m wide from north to south and contains pure spring water.

Next to the lake is a traditional pagoda and a street lined
with souvenir stalls. The site is popular with
tourists who are taken on camel rides by guides to the peaks of the surrounding dunes.

The lake's remarkable survival in the middle of the desert is believed
to be due to its low altitude, while its position is also thought to
prevent excess sand from the surrounding dunes falling into it.

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Problem: The Chinese Government plans to
introduce a range of measures to tackle increasing desertification which
threatens various regions

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Arid: A guide leading camels near the lake. The region has suffered from increasing desertification in recent decades

Surrounded by high mountains, Dunhuang has an arid climate - and is extremely hot in the summer and cold in winter.
Rain only occurs in tiny amounts and quickly evaporates, resulting in the desert landscape.
Desertification has become a major environmental problem in China which the government has tried to tackle in various ways.
This includes the proposed creation of a 'green wall' of forests to counter the spread of deserts.

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Weather: A guide waits for tourists next to a
group of camels. The area suffers from extremes in temperature, from
very high summer temperatures to freezing winters

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Hard work: An exhausted camel takes a rest in
the sand as another guide peers across the area. The Chinese Government
is taking steps to address the country's increasing desertification

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Historic: A cart carries a group of tourists at
the lake. The city of Dunhuang relies heavily on tourism and features a
number of historic sites dating back to the Han Dynasty

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