DESTINATION | Kanas Lake, Altai, Xinjiang

Surface area44.78 km²Max. depth184 mSurface elevation1,340 m

Kanas Lake (Chinese: 喀纳斯湖; pinyin: Kānàsī Hú) is a lake in Altay Prefecture, Xinjiang, China. The lake is located in a valley in the Altai Mountains, near the very northern tip of Xinjiang, and the province's borders with Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia. It is China's deepest freshwater lake.

The Kanas River, flowing out of the lake, later merges with other stream to form the Burqin River, which in its turn falls into the Irtysh in Burqin County.

There is a large population of Tuvans in the area.

About 117 different kinds of birds live along the lake.

There have been sightings of large lake creatures in the waters. A video was taken and shown in the local Chinese media where numerous unidentifiable creatures can be seen. According to CCTV10, the creatures living in the lake are speculated by Chinese scholar as giant Hucho taimen.

private car;  bus; flight