Kanas Lake Pictures – Kanas Photos

Lake Kanas lies near the Altai mountains, in Xinjiang, China. It is China’s deepest freshwater lake. About 117 different kinds of birds live along it.

Kanas Lake will be on of the most beautiful mountain lake you have ever seen. It is the latest lake open to all tourists in China and has attained a reputation as “the tourism pearl of Mountain Altai”. The lake takes on different colors following the four seasons of the year, sometimes it’s crystal blue, sometimes it’s dark green, or even gray, you may find it containing many colors setting off each another at a time, thus it got a name as the color-changing lake.

It is also one of the least poluted areas in China.

Kanas Lake is really six lakes, whose average water depth of 90 metres is double that of the Heavenly Pond. At present, only three sections of the lake are open to tourists.

The lake is estimated to be 200,000 years old and is China’s deepest fresh water lake (184 metres in one spot). The Kanas region is home to 798 species of plants and 117 varieties of birds. Also living in the midst of all this beauty are more than 1,400 people of the Tuva Minority whose ancestors came from Siberia over 1,000 years ago.

Legend has it that huge lake monsters live in the deep water of the lake and often has dragged horses and camels drinking along the lake into the water before swallowing them. It is said that the monster is actually a kind of rare fish named Hucho taimen in Chinese, also called huge red fish, with the longest one measuring up to over 10 meters.

After heavy rains in the early morning, one can appreciate the sunrise while standing in the Pavilion for Viewing Fish on the top of a peak. During sunrises, clouds and mist curl high up over the Kanas Lake. Sometimes, one can encounter the great spectacle of Buddha Halo, like that of Emei Mountain, with reflections of the pavilion and

The Kanas Lake is famous for its changing colors. The color of the water changes several times in a day, from dark green to sky blue, then to gray and white.

On the lakeside are lots of withered trees whose branches are interlocked. Carried by strong wind or waves into the lake, these dead trees strangely flow against the current to the lake’s north end and pile up in the upper reaches. With the elapse of time, a thousand-meter-long dike of dead trees came into being, forming a rare spectacle.

A Mongolian tribe called Tuwa lives on the south bank of the Kanas Lake. Believing in Lamaism, it is a valiant ethic minority with a long history. Tuwa people speak Turkish, resembling the language of Kazakh, and live on hunting and graze. They also have a special folk custom.

The Kanas Lake Reserve is remarkable in China because it abounds in species typical of southern Siberia. Here, southbound arctic storms are halted by the slopes of the Altai; the moisture gathered on their slopes nourishes forests of firs, white birch, Korean pine, and Dragon spruce. Fauna, too are typical of southern Siberia: brown bear, red deer, fox, sable and ermine.

The best time to visit Kanas Lake should be in June when you can enjoy the fully, brightly blooming flowers and in September when you can enjoy the tree leaves involve in golden, brown, and yellow.

Kanas Nature Reserve could have been China’s best kept secret – till 2005, when Chinese National Geography introduced Lake Kanas as a contender in a poll for the “Most Beautiful Lake in China”.

Within the primitive forests and snow covered peaks of Kanas Nature Reserve is China’s answer to the Swiss Alps. You will be absolutely blown away by the dazzling spruce, birch and Siberian larch trees in the fall.

In spring, various flowers are in blossom in the grassland, and the grass is thick and green. Standing in the grass, you can see that clouds and mist nearby look like white ribbons wrapped round mountains.

In July or August, you will be in awe of the beautiful landscapes around the lake and mountain. In Kanas Lake, you can view ‘Treasure Light’ which the locals call ‘Buddha Light’.

Standing in the Fish Viewing Pavilion which is on the mountain peak to the west of Kanas lake, you are free to appreciate the tranquil and limpid water below you, the beautiful mountains in multiple layers around the lake, and the Friendship Peak, the summit of Altai Mountain. One of the wonders here is a thousand-meter-long embankment of withered trees, which stretches out at the north-end entrance to the lake.