lowers bloom in the desert

A two-hour drive north from Daxi Gully will bring you to Sayrem Lake, dubbed "the last teardrop of the Atlantic".

The lake is the furthest point reached by humid air from the Atlantic Ocean, which hits the Tianshan Mountain and comes down as rain or snow. Sitting just beside the mountain, the diamond-shaped lake offers the kind of views usually only possible in the Alps.

Visitors can always find astonishing desert beauty, too, even on the outskirts of the cities. In Shanshan, about 280 kilometers from Urumqi, the Kumtag desert - literally "sand mountain" in the Uygur tongue - offers curvaceous sculptures of sand carved by nature.

Contact the writers at liangshuang@chinadaily.com.cn