Heavenly Lake

Hours & Admission Price Peak Season
Apr.-Oct.
09:00-20:00
100 Low Season
Oct.-Apr.
09:00-20:00
40 Address & Phone Transportation Take a non-stop regular bus from the gate of People Park and Hongshan Hotel in Urumqi city, two hours; or go expressway from Urumqi city, about one and a half  Notes Cable Car: CNY 35 (round trip cable car), CNY 20 (One-way ticket);
Battery car: CNY5(one-way ticket).

Heavenly Lake, reputed as the Pearl of Tianshan Mountains, is a natural paradise with intoxicating scenery which was listed among the first group of national key scenic spots in 1982.

Heavenly Lake scenic spot, a famous top-class tourist attraction, is placed at the mountainside of the snow-crowned Bogda Peak, which is 110km away from Urumqi city. Deriving its name in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Heavenly Lake is surrounded by numerous towering verdant spruces and mirror-like lakes. Covering 4.9 square kilometers, Heavenly Lake is in the shape of a half-moon, with 3,400 meters in length, and 1,500 meters in the widest part. The lake is 105 meters in depth, and lies 1910 meters above sea level.

A Long-history Legend

A legend that has been passed on three thousands years makes Heavenly Lake more mysterious. Story is going around that the Heavenly Empress (the Leader of the Goddesses) entertained King Mu of the Western Zhou Dynasty (1100 B.C. - 771 B.C.) at the Lake. The empress fell in love with him and read poem with him, "The white clouds drift while the mountains reach the blue sky. Passing thousands of mountains, crossing ten thousands of rivers, you come to us from a faraway place. If you are still fine, would you like to come back to us again?" The king answered in his poem, "After I go back to central China and lead the people to a prosperous life, I will come to you again." We do not know why the king never returned. Only the placid lake and the silent mountains witnessed the lovesickness of the West Queen.

Seasons of the lake

Heavenly Lake also has various waterfalls with constantly changing cloud and mist, forming a splendor and open plateau landscape. The climate here is moist with plenty of rainfall. In summer, the Heavenly Lake is a perfect resort in the sweltering desert. In winter, the alpine skating rink attracts a lot of tourists from China and foreign countries to visit.

Other Scenic Spots

Stone Gate of Heavenly Lake

Stone Gate is a natural mountain pass to enter the Heavenly Lake scenic spot. The width of two-sides is about 200 meters in and the narrowest part is only 10 meters. With two peaks stand in two sides, you can see one way straight leading to the sky. This kind of canyon was cut like this because of the need of riverway, so it is also called “Stone Canyon” .Towering stone cliffs run up to a height of ten meters ,and it is like two opening stone doors. Because stone’s color is similar to cast iron casting ,it has another name “Iron Gate Pass.”

Fifty Windings to the top of Heavenly Lake

It got this name, because there are fifty windings on the highroad to the top of Heavenly. A pavilion named Wentao Pavilion is built at one of the windings and visitors can get a beautiful view of the mountains from here.

West Small Heavenly Lake

It is located in the third windings right below the Fifty Windings with the altitude of 1,660 meters. The lake water is percolated from underground into Heavenly Lake, and it is said that it was “Footbath of Heavenly Empress”.

East Small Heavenly Lake

It is located in left half mile of last windings of Fifty Windings, and the altitude is 1,860 meters. It is said to be “the Pool of Heavenly Goddess”,but it was occupied by the black dragons, so it also has a name of “Black Dragon Pool ”.

"Crocodile Spraying Water"

Over the mountains in the south of the East Small Heavenly Lake, there is a huge natural dam, and it was formed by ancient glacier terminal moraine and mountain caving materials. Its height is 289 meters and the whole dam is like a crocodile tail, so it is called “Crocodile Dam”.“Crocodile Spraying Water” is one of the three famous waterfalls in the Heavenly Lake.

There are forty scenic spots in Heavenly Lake, each scenic spot has its characteristic, and you will have different feelings in different seasons to visit here. Wonderful scenery will make you impressed.
 

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