Lake Hongjiannao

Lake Hongjiannao, in the Mu Us Desert northwest of Yulin city near the Inner Mongolia border, is the largest natural freshwater lake in the desert regions of northern China — a body of clear water surrounded by sand dunes that seems impossible until you are standing on its shore. The lake sits in a shallow basin in the desert, its edges fringed with reed beds and willow scrub, and the dunes rise directly from the water in places, creating a landscape that appears to belong on a film set rather than in real life.

The lake is an important stopover and breeding site for migratory waterbirds, including bar-headed geese and the relict gull. In spring and autumn, the reed margins attract large numbers of ducks and waders passing through on the Central Asian flyway. The surrounding dunes can be walked or reached by camel in the tourist season, and the contrast between the open water and the desert is the main attraction.

Getting there requires a private car or taxi from Yulin city, roughly ninety minutes each way. Accommodation is available in Erlintu Town near the lake shore.

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Hongjiannao is slowly shrinking. The lake covered over 67 square kilometres in the 1960s; by the early 2020s it had fallen to under 35 square kilometres, primarily due to water diversion for coal mining operations and irrigation in the surrounding area. Environmental campaigns have slowed but not reversed the trend. The lake is the last significant habitat in China for the relict gull, a rare bird that breeds here and almost nowhere else — making the lake's ecological fate a matter of international ornithological concern.