As China’s largest inland freshwater lake, Bosten Lake boasts inherent natural advantages. Coupled with the convergence of Mongolian culture, fishing culture, and more, the Grand Estuary Scenic Area becomes even more captivating. In 2012, Yige Design Institute completed the regulatory detailed planning and scenic spot design scheme for the Grand Estuary area. The design style is rugged and bold, extremely...
Lianhua Lake is one of the interconnected small lakes in the western part of Bosten Lake. It is named after the abundant lotuses that grow there and is the source of the Peacock River. The lake is located 25 kilometers from Korla City. The lake is densely covered with tall, upright reeds, and its waters are an indigo-blue hue. The central area of the lake is expansive, with a depth of 1.5–1.7 meters and crystal-clear visibility. During summer and autumn, wild ducks, geese...
Golden Bay is located at the northern end of Egret Islet Scenic Area. It was developed with an investment of 42 million yuan by the Egret Islet Golden Bay Recuperation and Training Center in Bohu County starting in 2002. Currently, Golden Bay features two villas, one beer town, seven train carriages converted into a hotel, one large parking lot, one large beach, as well as five speedboats...
Egret Islet Head was invested and constructed in 1999 by Xinjiang Xiangbaijin Tourism Co., Ltd., with a total of 18 million yuan invested in development. Currently, Egret Islet features one three-story multifunctional Sea-Viewing Pavilion, two parking lots, one tourism service center, one beach, and one observation deck. It is equipped with two speedboats, six motorboats, …
The Two Bays in Scenic Rivalry was invested and built in 2000 by Bayin'guoleng County's Egret Island Splendid Tourism Co., Ltd., with cumulative investment of 5.4 million yuan. Currently, the site features one restaurant, three wooden villa cottages, one cultural garden, three parking lots, one large sandy beach, and one comprehensive building, equipped with five speedboats, two motorboats…
Hailong Resort was invested and built by Hailong Tourism Company in 2005, with a total investment of 1.6 million yuan. Currently, Hailong Resort features one restaurant, one parking lot, one beach, two speedboats, one motorboat, as well as related facilities such as sun umbrellas and shade shelters. It has 12 fixed beds and can accommodate...
The “Yardang Landforms” are located in the Lop Nur region in the northern part of Ruoqiang County, where vast wind-eroded terrains known as “Yardangs” stretch out. They are generally distributed to the east, west, and north of Lop Nur, with the formations on the eastern side being the most typical. This wind-eroded area spans approximately 35 kilometers from east to west and about 100 kilometers from north to south, covering a total area of 3...
Location: Located today in the northern part of Ruoqiang County, Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, China, west of Lop Nur and 7 kilometers south of the Kongque River. Attractions: Loulan Ancient City was once a thriving paradise for human life. It was surrounded by the vast expanse of Lop Nur and bordered by clear rivers at its doorstep. People boated and fished on the azure waters, hunted in the dense forests of desert poplars, and enjoyed the bounty of nature.
In 1984, an expedition team from the Altun Mountain Nature Reserve discovered over 2,000 pieces of stone-carved Buddhist sutras within a vast area of 120 square kilometers, covering the northern foothills of the Kuluk Pitikelitage Mountains and the southern part of the Qimantag Mountains. The astonishing number of these sutra stone slabs were mostly made from yellow sandstone and slate, with the exception of one location on the southern slope of the Qimantag Mountains, where harder granite was predominantly used as the material. Carving sutras into extremely hard granite would have been an extraordinarily difficult task without considerable skill and specialized tools. Most of the stone slabs feature inscriptions on both sides, with a preliminary estimate of over 500,000 characters in total—earning them the nickname “sky-written scriptures.” The carving techniques include both intaglio and relief, with varying font sizes and styles, suggesting they were the work of multiple artisans. The knife work is exquisitely meticulous—some inscriptions are neat and rigorous, others bold and unrestrained, some powerful and vigorous, and others delicate and smooth, all demonstrating remarkable craftsmanship. The largest collection is stacked in layers on a 6-meter-long granite base. These stone-carved Buddhist sutras were identified by scripture lecturers from Beijing’s Lama Temple and language experts from the Central University for Nationalities as the Buddhist “Six-Syllable Mantra.” Some inscriptions depict scenes of Padmasambhava, the founder of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, showing him holding a vajra in his right hand to subdue demons while ringing a ritual bell in his left during the preaching of sutras. Also known as Guru Rinpoche, Padmasambhava was an 8th-century Indian monk who was invited by Tibetan King Trisong Detsen between 742 and 797 AD to spread esoteric Buddhism in Tibet. Based on this, it is believed that these stone-carved sutras date back to the 8th–9th centuries. Concealed deep within the towering mountains, the many mysteries of these sutras—and the lesser-known history they embody—await further exploration.
In 1984, staff from the Altun Mountain Nature Reserve accidentally discovered a large number of obviously worked fragments of crystal and flint in a gully on the western bank of the source of the Hashialeke Darya River, at the foot of the Kulukepitilek Tagh Mountain. The area is surrounded on three sides by granite mountains, with the Kaladun Grassland to the north, and the mountains contain developed quartz veins and crystals. Within a gully that stretches 4 kilometers from north to south and 0.5 kilometers from east to west, discarded stone fragments and tools are scattered everywhere, easily found. After sorting, the stone tools included 21 arrowheads, 12 fan-shaped stone cores, 32 stone flakes, and 1 necklace bead. Identified by the Institute of Paleoanthropology at the Beijing Natural History Museum and the Xinjiang Archaeological Research Institute, these were confirmed to be artifacts from the microlithic period, dating back 10,000 to 50,000 years. Judging by the fine craftsmanship of the stone tools, this ancient stone tool manufacturing site in the Eastern Kunlun saw frequent human activity, providing new clues for the study of the distribution of ancient Qiang tribal groups.
Haide Ancient City is located 48.3 km southwest of Loulan Ancient City. It was the second-largest city in the Lop Nur region during the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties, second only to Loulan. The city’s north-south walls are 107 meters long, the east-west walls are about 190 meters long, and the total area is approximately 20,000 square meters. The area near Haide Ancient City is another concentration of ruins in the Lop Nur region, with the LL Ancient City located about 3 km to its northwest…
Lop Nur is located in the northeastern part of Ruoqiang County and was once China's second-largest inland lake, at an altitude of 780 meters. Lop Nur has had many names—some based on its characteristics, such as Aozhe (Depression Marsh), Yanzhe (Salt Marsh), and Hehai (Dry Sea), and others based on its location, such as Puchang Hai, Laolan Hai, Kongque Hai (Peacock Sea), and Luopu Chi (Luopu Pool). After the Yuan Dynasty, it came to be called Lop…
The Altun Mountain Nature Reserve is China’s largest nature reserve, situated in the southern part of the Altun Mountains and the northern part of the eastern Kunlun Mountains. It stretches from the boundary line between Ruoqiang and Qiemo counties in the west to the border between Xinjiang and Qinghai provinces in the east, and extends from the Qiman Tagh Mountains in the southern Altun Mountains in the north to the eastern Kunlun Mountains that mark the boundary between Xinjiang and Tibet in the south. The reserve spans 36…
Nestled in the heart of the Kunlun Mountains southeast of Ruoqiang County lies a magical lake. Stretching 37 kilometers from east to west and 7.6 kilometers from north to south, it covers an area of 260 square kilometers. With a surface elevation of 4,708 meters and depths ranging from 1 to 10 meters, the lake shimmers alongside snow-capped peaks and glaciers. Its shape resembles that of a giant, reclining whale...
Haitou Ancient City is located 48.3 kilometers southwest of the Loulan Ancient City. It was the second-largest city in the Lop Nur region during the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties periods, after Loulan. The northern and southern walls are 107 meters long, the eastern and western walls are about 190 meters long, and the total area is approximately 20,000 square meters. The area around Haitou Ancient City is another concentration of ruins in the Lop Nur region. About 3 kilometers to its northwest lies the LL Ancient City, and about 4.8 kilometers further northwest is the LM residential site.
The Stone Fortress is located 33 kilometers southeast of Ruoqiang County, on the east side of the water intake of the Shankou Hydropower Station on the Ruoqiang River. The ruins are built atop an isolated peak, whose summit has been artificially leveled — featuring three sheer cliffs and one connecting ridge, roughly forming a “T” shape. The ground has been flattened, with low-lying areas and steep cliffs filled in using stone slabs. On the eastern and northern sides of the site, stones were piled up from the Ruoqiang River valley all the way to the peak, forming a vertical stone wall 100 meters high. The eastern part contains remnants of houses, while the western part features larger structures, including a circular formation built with gray bricks and stones, standing 2 meters high with a diameter of 10 meters. There is a gap on the south side, inside which red pottery shards, fragments of ironware, slag, broken crucibles, and many finely crafted small square stone pieces have been found. The Stone Fortress is a garrison fortress ruin dating back to the Tang Dynasty and is classified as a regional-level cultural heritage site. Based on its geographical location, it is speculated that the site may have been an ancient secret munitions factory or “weapons research and development” base, similar in nature to today’s Malan Base. The circular structure within the ruins has been mistakenly referred to by locals as a “princess tomb,” which is why the local people also call the Stone Fortress the Princess Tomb.
Ruoqiang has launched a comprehensive jujube industry project to boost local prosperity, leveraging its regional advantages and abundant water, soil, light, and heat resources. Currently, there are seventeen varieties of jujubes, mainly including gray jujubes, chicken-heart jujubes, winter jujubes, snow jujubes, teapot jujubes, and seedless jujubes. The county has planted jujubes across 70,000 mu (approximately 4,667 hectares) with over 7.5 million trees. It is expected that jujube trees will enter the fruit-bearing stage this year…
The Ruins of Milan are located about 80 kilometers east of Ruoqiang County and 3 kilometers east of the Milan Farm headquarters. This vast site complex consists of eight stupas, three Buddhist temples, Han Dynasty irrigation facilities, and the ruins of an ancient Tibetan garrison from the Tang Dynasty. It is the renowned site of the ancient Western Regions kingdom of Shanshan, specifically the ancient city of Yixun. In the area of the Han Dynasty irrigation ruins…
The Wushi Gorge Ruins, locally known as the Ancient City of Wushi Gorge, are located near Wushi Gorge Village in Wushi Gorge Township, Ruoqiang County. The site includes 12 relatively concentrated ruins, 3 kiln sites, 2 burial areas, and 1 iron smelting site. The house ruins date back to the Tang to Song dynasties. Explorers such as Stein and Bergman, as well as some domestic and regional experts, have conducted surveys here. Artifacts unearthed include...
Tomb No. 5 of "Xiaohe" is believed to be an early burial site of the Loulan people and a place where religious ceremonies were held. It is located near a southeastward-oriented dry riverbed called "Xiaohe" in the Lop Desert, north of Alagan. Locals refer to it as the "Cemetery of a Thousand Coffins." The site sits atop a small sand dune, where hundreds of four-meter-tall…