The Badain Jaran Desert is located in western Inner Mongolia， roughly 150 kilometers north of the Hexi corridor. The desert covers 50,000 square kilometers. It is the second largest

area of shifting sands in China

Location

The Tallest Megadunes on the Earth

It is the home of the largest dunes on earth, the highest of which tower over 450 meters tall and stretch over 5 km in length. The dunes are kept in place in the arid, windy region by an underground water source.

Beautiful Desert Lakes

In addition to its megadunes, the Badain Jaran also boasts roughly 140 spring fed-lakes that reside in the interspaces of its giant megadunes, some of which are fresh while others are extremely saline, creating one of the most captivating desert landscapes in the world. It is not a “Waterless place”, from these lakes that the Badain Jaran has derived its name, which means "mysterious lake" in the local Mongolian dialect.

Booming Sand

It is the largest “booming” sand area in the world. By sliding down the sand dune, one can hear the sand booming like the tolling of a huge bell or the beating of a big drum. In the evening, the strong winds make the sand slide down the dune slope, producing booming by itself.

A Live Desert

The Badain Jaran is not a “sea of death”. It is a live desert. In the heart of the desert, Buddhist monastery, which once housed 80 monks, is built along the lake in 1755. Mongolian herdsmen with camels are living amid the big dunes that intersperse with spring-fed lakes. All are rare examples of a complete self-purification and harmony between lakes and sand dunes, the life of Mongolian herdsmen and their camels.

Resort of Aeolian ResearchersResearchers have long been curious about the environmental evolution and geomorphic processes that have occurred in this sand sea, particularly where the mega-dunes are interspersed with the lakes that occur in many low-lying areas throughout the sand sea and that vary in size, shape, and salinity. The last decade has witnessed unprecedented interest in the sand sea by researchers, particularly in terms of the mechanisms responsible for the formation and evolution of the sand sea, of the mega-dunes, and of the desert lakes. However, many puzzles are far from being solved despite the great progress that has been made by researchers. On the contrary, debates over various aspects of the region are heating up as the research continues (Click here for a review article).