Lake Kanas
Encyclopedia
Kanas Lake is a lake in Altay Prefecture
, Xinjiang
, China
. The lake is located in a valley in the Altai Mountains, near the very northern tip of Xinjiang
, and the province's borders with Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia. The lake was born around 200, 000 years ago during the Quaternary
period, formed as a result of glacier movement. The crescent moon shaped lake have water storage capacity 53.8 billion cubic meter, average depth 120 meters.
The Kanas River, flowing out of the lake, later merges with other stream to form the Burqin River, which in its turn falls into the Irtysh
in Burqin County
.
Kanas Lake district locate at about 48° N latitude
, the local tourism
information office compare the Kanas environment to Lake Léman Genève (46° N) due to their great many similarity of climate and scenery, in fact both the lake district looks remarkably alike - at first sight from flight - in terms of their natural elements. There is a large population of Tuvans
and Kazakhs
in the Kanas valley area, kept traditional agriculture
and nomadism life style, many of the local people also begin to participate in the developing tourism business recent years, managed to establish facilities for orienteering
, hiking
, rafting
, rock climbing
, paragliding
and camping
.
About 117 different kinds of birds live along the lake.
There have been sightings of large lake creatures in the waters. A video was taken and shown in the local Chinese media where numerous unidentifiable creatures can be seen.
According to CCTV10, the creatures living in the lake are speculated by Chinese scholar as giant Hucho taimen
.
Altay Prefecture
Altay Prefecture is located in northern Xinjiang, China. It has an area of 118,015 km² and a population of 561,667 . It is a part of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture...
, Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The lake is located in a valley in the Altai Mountains, near the very northern tip of Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
, and the province's borders with Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia. The lake was born around 200, 000 years ago during the Quaternary
Quaternary
The Quaternary Period is the most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the ICS. It follows the Neogene Period, spanning 2.588 ± 0.005 million years ago to the present...
period, formed as a result of glacier movement. The crescent moon shaped lake have water storage capacity 53.8 billion cubic meter, average depth 120 meters.
The Kanas River, flowing out of the lake, later merges with other stream to form the Burqin River, which in its turn falls into the Irtysh
Irtysh
The Irtysh River is a river in Siberia and is the chief tributary of the Ob River. Its name means White River. Irtysh's main affluent is the Tobol River...
in Burqin County
Burqin County
Burqin County , is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China and is under the administration of the Altay Prefecture. It has an area of 10,362 km² with a population of 70,000. The postcode is 836600.- Transport :...
.
Kanas Lake district locate at about 48° N latitude
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
, the local tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
information office compare the Kanas environment to Lake Léman Genève (46° N) due to their great many similarity of climate and scenery, in fact both the lake district looks remarkably alike - at first sight from flight - in terms of their natural elements. There is a large population of Tuvans
Tuvans
Tuvans or Tuvinians are Turkic peoples living in southern Siberia. They are historically known as one of the Uriankhai, from the Mongolian designation...
and Kazakhs
Kazakhs
The Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....
in the Kanas valley area, kept traditional agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and nomadism life style, many of the local people also begin to participate in the developing tourism business recent years, managed to establish facilities for orienteering
Orienteering
Orienteering is a family of sports that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain, and normally moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they...
, hiking
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
, rafting
Rafting
Rafting or white water rafting is a challenging recreational outdoor activity using an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other bodies of water. This is usually done on white water or different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers. The development of this...
, rock climbing
Rock climbing
Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...
, paragliding
Paragliding
Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure...
and camping
Camping
Camping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, cabin, a primitive structure, or no...
.
About 117 different kinds of birds live along the lake.
There have been sightings of large lake creatures in the waters. A video was taken and shown in the local Chinese media where numerous unidentifiable creatures can be seen.
According to CCTV10, the creatures living in the lake are speculated by Chinese scholar as giant Hucho taimen
Hucho taimen
The taimen , also known as Siberian taimen and Siberian salmon, is a species of fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes.-Habits and range:...
.