Crescent Lake (Dunhuang)

Crescent Lake Yueyaquan
The lake and pavilion in June 2006. What is left of the lake is on the far right.
Location	Gansu
Coordinates	40°5′12″N 94°40′10″E / 40.08667°N 94.66944°ECoordinates: 40°5′12″N 94°40′10″E / 40.08667°N 94.66944°E
Basin countries	China
Surface area	1.37 acres (0.55 ha)
Average depth	4–5 m (1960) 0.9 m (1990s)
Max. depth	7.5 m (1960) 1.3 m (1990s)

Yueyaquan (Chinese: 月牙泉; pinyin: Yuèyá Quán) is a crescent-shaped lake in an oasis, 6 km south of the city of Dunhuang in Gansu Province, China. It was named Yueyaquan in the Qing Dynasty. Mildred Cable & Francesca French visited the lake during their travels in the region and recorded their impressions in their book The Gobi Desert, "All around us we saw tier on tier of lofty sand-hills, giving the lie to our quest, yet when, with a final desperate effort, we hoisted ourselves over the last ridge and looked down on what lay beyond, we saw the lake below, and its beauty was entrancing."^[1]

According to measurements made in 1960, the average depth of the lake was 4 to 5 meters, with a maximum depth of 7.5 metres (25 ft). In the following 40 years, the depth of the lake continually declined. In the early 1990s, its area had shrunk to only 1.37 acres (5,500 m²) with an average depth of 0.9 meter (maximum 1.3 meter). In 2006, the local government with help of the central government started to fill the lake and restore its depth; its depth and size have been growing yearly since then.^[2] The lake and the surrounding deserts are very popular with tourists, who are offered camel and ATV rides.

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  Crescent Lake in 2009

References

1. Mildred Cable with Francesca French, The Gobi Desert. London: Readers Union & Hodder and Stoughton, 1950, p. 63.
2. "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". Mail Online. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.