Five-Color Beach (Wucai Tan)

Five-Color Beach — Wucai Tan in Chinese — is a stretch of eroded sandstone cliffs along the Ertix River south of Fuyun, where natural mineral staining has created a layered display of red, orange, yellow, white, and grey. The colours are most vivid in the morning and evening light and shift through the day as the sun moves.

The site is easily visited on the drive between Fuyun and Altay City, and is signposted off the main road. A short walking path leads along the clifftop and down to the riverbank. The combination of coloured cliffs, the wide river below, and the desert-steppe landscape makes for photographs quite unlike anything else in Xinjiang.

Unlike the Kanas area, Wucai Tan sees relatively few foreign visitors. Entry is straightforward and the site is uncrowded outside of Chinese public holidays.

things to do sight
A story
The vivid colours of Wucai Tan come from the oxidation of different minerals in the cliff face — iron compounds produce the reds and oranges, while other minerals give grey, green, and cream layers. The effect varies dramatically with the light: at sunrise and sunset the cliffs glow so intensely that early visitors thought they were looking at a natural fire. Locals have called the spot by various names over centuries, all versions of "the colourful shore."

Other places in Things to Do