China's Colorful"Dead Sea"
Xiechi Lake(解池), also known as Yuncheng Salt Lake in China's Shanxi province, has become popular on Instagram and other social media websites in recent years because of eye-popping aerial photographs of its colorful surface.
Now, China wants to convert that online popularity into real-life tourism. The first step is to advertise it to Chinese domestic travelers.
Recent tourism campaigns on Chinese social media sites including Weibo and WeChat refer to Xiechi as"China' s Dead Sea" and promote both its beauty and its healing properties(特性).
"It's the Chinese version of Israel's Dead Sea. Floating here is an unforgettable experience, and one you can't find anywhere else," reads a tourism ad. One honor stands out as a sign of the lake' s endorsement(公开支持) at the highest levels: Xiechi Lake was featured in a 2019 Chinese TV special celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
How was this wondrous lake formed? You might ask. There are three kinds of salt lakes in the world: carbonate(碳酸盐), chloride(氯化物) and sulfate(硫酸盐). The Dead Sea and the Great Salt Lake in Utah are both chloride lakes. Yuncheng, however, falls into the last group.
"If the sulfate in your water is greater than the calcium (钙), all the calcium is used up, which leaves you with an excess of sulfate, and then you have a sulfate lake," explains Bernie Owen, a geography professor at Hong Kong Baptist University.
Xiechi is also a"closed basin" lake. It doesn't flow out to a river or ocean, which explains why its salt content is able to stay so high.
But what about those gorgeous colors that have made the lake so popular with photographers? They have to do with the species of animals and plants living in the water.
"If you' ve got brine shrimp(卤虫) in the water, you tend to get red colors," says Owen. "There's a microscopic animal called a rotifer(轮虫), and that will give a purple color.[You also] tend to get purples with green algae(绿藻类). And then greens or oranges[occur] in very saline(咸的) lakes."
Besides the scenery, the mud bath is a big draw. According to a statement from the Yuncheng city government, the black mud in the lake has restorative properties-just like Dead Sea mud.
There's some good news for wannabe travelers who hope to visit Xiechi Lake— it isn't yet as popular or crowded as other tourist spots in China.
① Its eye-pop ping colorful surfaces.
② The mysterious story behind its formation.
③ The black mud in the lake that is advertised as having healing powers.
④ The fact that it was featured in a TV special that celebrated the founding of the PRC.