Xinjiang Maigaiti Tangwanghu National Wetland Park

Xinjiang Maigaiti Tangwanghu National Wetland Park

Xinjiang Maigaiti Tangwanghu National Wetland Park is a national-level wetland park.

Xinjiang Maigaiti Tangwanghu National Wetland Park is mainly situated within Forest Compartment 11 of the national public welfare forest in Kumukusar Township of the county, as well as the desert swamp area to its southwest. The geographical coordinates span between 77°42′59″～77°46′02″ E and 38°48′34″～38°52′38″ N. It centers around the reed marsh formed by the Tangwang Canal basin in the middle, and mainly includes lakes and marshes dominated by the seasonal saline lake—Tangwang Lake; reed and Apocynum venetum herbaceous marshes distributed in a beaded pattern on both the east and west sides of the Tangwang Canal; inland salt marshes formed in wastelands, depressions, and saline pits where surface and groundwater flow stagnates or gathers; as well as shrub marshes represented by tamarisk in the eastern and northern parts, and artificial wetlands such as the manually excavated Qianjin Canal in the western and northern areas, and the Tangwang Canal in the central part. Different wetland zones are interconnected through natural waterways, underground seepage, and artificial canal systems.

The Tangwanghu National Wetland Park project proposed by Maigaiti County was successfully selected as a national wetland park pilot project. It was named: Maigaiti Tangwanghu National Wetland Park.

The Tangwang Lake was built in 629 AD. It is an artificial irrigation channel organized and constructed under the direction of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin. Stretching nearly 400 kilometers from the Kunlun Mountains in Yecheng County in the west to Tangwang City in Bachu County in the east, it passes through five counties: Yecheng, Zepu, Shache, Maigaiti, and Bachu. It diverts snowmelt from the Kunlun Mountains to Tangwang City, ensuring a perennial flow of water. Over a thousand years of soaking and infiltration by the Tangwang River gave rise to Maigaiti’s Tangwang Lake and the surrounding desert ecological wetland. Covering an area of over 30,000 mu, the wetland boasts beautiful scenery and lush vegetation, including licorice, Apocynum venetum, and Cistanche. It is home to a wide variety of wildlife such as goitered gazelles, hedgehogs, snakes, geckos, and numerous bird species. It is an excellent destination for leisure and recreation.