National Geopark / Nature ReserveReserva de la Biosfera

Kanas

East Asia (Xinjiang)Declared in 198010,000 km²

An alpine lake of shifting turquoise in the far north-west of China, where the borders with Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia meet

Area

10,000 km²

Declared in

1980

Region

East Asia (Xinjiang)

Climate

Tropical, Árido / desértico, Templado, Polar / frío, Montañoso

Best time

March to May

Mountain Freshwater Biosphere Reserve

Plan your visit

Best time: March to May
Area: 10,000 km²

Highlight

An alpine lake of shifting turquoise in the far north-west of China, where the borders with Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia meet

Protected since 1980 and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 2012, Kanas lies in the far north-west of China, in Xinjiang, at a point where the borders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia almost touch. Its glacial lake, a turquoise that shifts with the angle of the light and the season as glacial minerals dissolve in it, is the setting of local legends about a Kanas Lake monster routinely compared to Loch Ness, fed by sightings of exceptionally large specimens of a native Danube salmon.