Badain Jaran Desert

The Badain Jaran Desert is located in Alxa Right Banner, Alxa League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It is the third-largest desert in China and one of the deserts with the highest sand dunes and the most lakes in the world, famous for its unique features of "wonder, peril, elegance and beauty". Here, there is Bilutu Peak - known as the "Everest of the World's Deserts" - with an altitude of 1,611 meters and a relative height of over 500 meters. Climbing to the top allows you to overlook the rolling golden sand sea and feel the vastness of the world. There are also 144 scattered lakes, such as the pink Dagetu Lake and the blue Nuertu Lake. The lake water contrasts with the yellow sand, and the lakesides are covered with lush plants, even attracting waterbirds to inhabit. All these scenes break people's inherent perception of deserts as "barren".

Highlights of Badain Jaran Desert

Bilutu Peak

The scenery at the Bilutu Peak

Bilutu Peak is 1,611.09 meters high, with a relative height of over 500 meters—people call it the "Everest of Deserts". When you stand at its foot and look up, the sand mountain feels grand. It has a huge shape, rising straight from the ground up to the sky. Gullies cover the mountain, and each crack seems like a mark left by time. Its sand cliffs are as steep as a cut, almost standing straight up from the ground, so people feel awed when they see it. Once you climb to the top and look far, endless sand dunes spread like waves into the distance, all the way to where sky and earth meet. Strong winds howl past your ears, as if they're telling the old stories of this desert. When you stand on this highest spot in the world's deserts, you can really feel how small you are, and how great nature is. This experience will be something you never forget for the rest of your life.

The Singing Sand Wonder

Known as the "World's Kingdom of Singing Sand", the Badain Jaran Desert has the world's largest singing sand area. Go into this area, and you'll see singing sand dunes rolling on, with a relative height of 200-500 meters. Most sand grains here are evenly spherical or almost spherical. Their unique shape makes the contact areas between grains small and the gaps big. When wind blows, sand grains rub and hit each other. They make a low buzzing sound that travels far—like dull thunder from far away. If you slide down the sand slope, your body will move the sand, and the sound gets clearer and louder. You may even feel the whole sand dune is "singing". The drier the weather is, the louder the singing sand is. On a sunny afternoon, the sun shines fully on the sand, making it hot. Sliding down then gives the most amazing singing sand sound. You can slide from different spots at the same time with your friends. All kinds of sounds mix, forming a special "desert symphony". Enjoy this magical and fun natural phenomenon in the big desert.

Colorful Lakes

The colorful Lakes at Badain Jaran Desert

The Badain Jaran Desert has 144 identified lakes, like gems scattered across the sand sea. From a high altitude, you can see these lakes dotted everywhere between sand mountains and dunes. Each of these lakes has its own features. Most are saltwater lakes, and they show rich colors like pink, red, green and blue—thanks to the mineral elements and halophytic organisms they contain. Take Dagetu Lake as an example: its water is a charming pink. Surrounded by golden sand mountains, the strong color contrast makes it look like God knocked over a paint palette. Some lakes also have freshwater areas, where visitors can fish and play. For some other lakes, the water and sky blend into one, and the calm lake surface reflects the blue sky, white clouds and sand mountains—making it hard to tell reality from the reflection. When you walk by the lake, you can see wild ducks swimming on the water and swans flying past occasionally, adding vitality to this quiet desert.

Badain Jaran Temple

Badain Jaran Temple

Badain Jaran Temple is in Sumin Jilin, the desert's hinterland, and people call it the "Forbidden City of the Desert". It has stood in the desert for over 200 years, going through years of changes. Its building style mixes parts of Tibetan Buddhism and Mongolian culture. Local herdsmen often come here to pray, so the place has a strong religious feeling. Go into the temple, and you'll see nice religious murals on the walls. They have been through wind and rain, but their colors are still bright, and they tell old legends. The lake in front of the temple and the temple set each other off, making a quiet and peaceful scene. For a long time, it has seen how the lives of desert people have changed. It's also a great place for tourists to learn about desert culture and feel religious charm, which adds deep humanistic meaning to the Badain Jaran Desert.

Educational Value

The 144 lakes (of various sizes) and "oases in the sand sea" in the Badain Jaran Desert are key scenes that break the misconception that "deserts have no life" and convey the importance of ecological protection. Most of these lakes are fed by groundwater. Though most are saltwater lakes, they still have salt-tolerant organisms like algae and brine shrimp. Salt-resistant plants such as reeds and sea-buckthorns grow by the lakesides, and the area even attracts waterbirds like wild ducks and swans to live here. This "desert-lake-organism" symbiotic system clearly shows "the wisdom of life in adapting to extreme environments": algae resist the high-salt environment by accumulating osmotic pressure; plants absorb groundwater through deep root systems; and birds rely on the lakes as "water stops" during their migrations.

Activities to do at Badain Jaran Desert

Lake Exploration: There are many lakes in the Badain Jaran Desert. For example, Nuertu Lake (the Two-Colored Lake) is half azure and half emerald green, with dense reeds by its side—it's perfect for taking reflection photos. Dagetu Lake (the Pink Lake) turns into a lovely pink color in summer when salt and alkali crystallize; paired with the white salt flats, it looks like a spilled paint palette. Visitors can bring bread crumbs to feed the small fish in the lakes and experience the magic of these creatures that survive in the highly salty water.

Cultural Experience: You can visit Badain Jaran Temple in the desert to learn about its history and cultural background. Besides, you can take part in local intangible cultural heritage activities, such as appreciating and learning to make ethnic handicrafts like woven carpets, rock paintings, sand paintings and handcrafted silverware, allowing you to feel the rich local cultural charm.