Badain Jaran Desert - Towers of Sand and Lakes

The Badain Jaran Desert in Gansu and neighbouring regions is noted for its towering sand dunes and for a network of lakes that lie between the dunes. The landscape combines extremely high stationary dunes with groundwater-fed bodies of water to form a striking arid environment.

The key attractions are very tall linear and star-shaped sand dunes that can reach several hundred metres in height and the numerous lakes of varying permanence that occur in interdunal depressions. Visitors who travel into the desert encounter dune fields that extend for many tens of kilometres and scattered oasis-like lakes; access typically requires a guided excursion over sandy tracks and dune crossings.

The dunes and lakes have formed through long-term wind-driven sand transport and local hydrological conditions; scientific interest has focused on dune morphology and the groundwater sources that feed the lakes. Human habitation in the region has historically been sparse and adapted to arid conditions.

The Badain Jaran Desert spans parts of western Inner Mongolia and neighbouring Gansu province in northern China; the dunes and lakes lie inland in an arid continental zone and are reached via regional desert access points and towns in the surrounding provinces.

• Dune heights: The desert contains some of the tallest stationary sand dunes on Earth, with individual dunes reaching heights of roughly 200-500 metres.
• Desert lakes: More than 100 spring-fed lakes and seasonal water bodies are scattered among the dunes, creating an unusual desert lacustrine landscape.