Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.
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The Badain Jaran Desert (Chinese: 巴丹吉林沙漠; pinyin: Bādānjílín Shāmò) is a desert in China which spans the provinces of Gansu, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia. It covers an area of 49,000 square kilometers. By size it is the third largest desert in China. This desert is home to some of the tallest stationary dunes on Earth, with some reaching a height of more than 500 meters, although most average at around 200 meters. Its tallest dune is also measured, from base to peak, as the world's third tallest dune and highest stationary dune in the world.
The desert also features over 100 spring-fed lakes that lie between the dunes, some of which are fresh water while others are extremely saline. These lakes give the desert its name which is Mongolian for "mysterious lakes". These lakes are not completely studied and high pH lakes harbour extremely interesting animal communities. It is also crossed by one river, the Ruo Shui ("weak water"), which has formed an alluvial plain in the desert.
The Badain Jaran megadunes is one of the few places where the singing sand phenomenon occurs, in which the sand emits a sharp, loud noise that can be maintained for more than a minute. Although it is not fully understood, it is believed that it is caused by an electrostatic charge that is generated as wind pulls the top layers of sand down a dune slope. This will produce a low pitched rumble that can reach over 105 decibels. The "singing" starts with an avalanche of sand down the leeward face of a large dune.
Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.
The desert also features over 100 spring-fed lakes that lie between the dunes, some of which are fresh water while others are extremely saline. These lakes give the desert its name which is Mongolian for "mysterious lakes". These lakes are not completely studied and high pH lakes harbour extremely interesting animal communities. It is also crossed by one river, the Ruo Shui ("weak water"), which has formed an alluvial plain in the desert.
The Badain Jaran megadunes is one of the few places where the singing sand phenomenon occurs, in which the sand emits a sharp, loud noise that can be maintained for more than a minute. Although it is not fully understood, it is believed that it is caused by an electrostatic charge that is generated as wind pulls the top layers of sand down a dune slope. This will produce a low pitched rumble that can reach over 105 decibels. The "singing" starts with an avalanche of sand down the leeward face of a large dune.
On July 27 2025 China's Badain Jaran Desert - Towers of Sand and Lakes, successfully passed the review process to be included on the World Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Wonderful...Glad to read about Badain Jaran Desert
ReplyDeleteNever heard about that place. As usual very interesting....and a really exiting photograph. All the best
ReplyDeleteVioletta
That’s an incredible recognition, celebrating both the Badain Jaran Desert’s towering dunes and its rare, mysterious lakes
ReplyDelete