Badain Jaran Desert - Towers of Sand and Lakes

Overview

About

Badain Jaran Desert - Towers of Sand and Lakes (巴丹吉林沙漠——沙山湖泊群) was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2024 as a natural site.

Travel tips

Location: in Alxa League, Inner Mongolia, administratively within Alxa Right Banner and Ejin Banner. The desert is large, and the sand towers and lakes lie in its interior.

Getting there: the seat of Alxa Right Banner is Badain Jaran town; reach it by long-distance bus or self-drive from Yinchuan, Lanzhou, Jiayuguan or Ejin Banner, then hire a vehicle to enter the desert.

Entering the desert: there are no paved roads in the interior; an off-road vehicle and a driver who knows the route are needed. Do not go in alone.

Main sights: the sand towers around Badain Jaran Temple, among them Bilutu Peak at about 1,600 m above sea level and over 400 m high, the tallest stationary dune in the world; more than a hundred lakes between the dunes; and booming dunes.

Time: a round trip from the town normally takes two days with one night in the desert, allowing sunrise, sunset and stars.

Season: spring and autumn are suitable; summer ground temperatures are very high and winter is severe.

Where to stay: tent camps in the desert and hotels in the town.

Caution: there is almost no water or shade; carry plenty of water and sun protection. Mobile reception is unreliable.

Why it was inscribed

The World Heritage Committee found that it meets criteria (vii), (viii) of the ten selection criteria:

(vii) superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance.

(viii) an outstanding example of major stages of Earth’s history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features.

Description (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)

Located in the Alashan Plateau in the hyper-arid and temperate desert region of northwestern China, the Badain Jaran Desert is a meeting point for three sandy regions of China and is the country’s third largest desert and second largest drifting desert. The property stands out with its high density of mega-dunes, intersected with inter-dunal lakes. It displays spectacular ongoing geological and geomorphic features of desert landscapes and landforms which may well be unparalleled. Noteworthy features, among others, include the world’s tallest stabilized sand mega-dune (relative relief of 460 m).

Photo credits: Dunes of the Badain Jaran Desert, Inner Mongolia: Sjoerd van Oort (CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons)

Nearby

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