| Crescent Moon Lake Yueyaquan |
|
|---|---|
| The lake and pavilion in June 2006. What's left of the lake is on the far right. | |
| Location | Gansu |
| 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. 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. The lake and the surrounding deserts are very popular with tourists, who are offered camel and 4x4 rides.
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Crescent_Lake_(Dunhuang) Crescent Lake (Dunhuang)] at Wikimedia Commons