Where is Kanas?

Kanas is located at the north of Burqin County, Altay Prefecture, northwest China’s Xinjiang, 150 kilometers away from Burqin County, in the middle of the Altay Mountains, bordering Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia, covering an area of 10,030 square kilometers.

What does Kanas mean?

Kanas has two meanings in Mongolian, one is “a beautiful and mysterious place”, the other is “lake in the valley”.

How was Kanas Lake formed?

Kanas Lake was formed in the Quaternary Glacier Period about 200,000 years ago. It is the deepest alpine lake in China. Kanas Lake is 1,374 meters above sea level. The widest part of the lake is about 2,600 meters and the deepest part of the lake is 188 meters, which covers an area of about 45 square kilometers.

The most amazing thing about Kanas Lake is that it can change colors with the season and weather. Sometimes it is blue, sometimes it is green and sometimes it is gray. On sunny days, it reflects the sky in deep blue, and on cloudy days, it reflects the surrounding taiga in dark green. In August and September, when it merges with the waters of the Baihu Lake upstream, it turns baby blue.

Kanas Lake deserves the title as ‘the most beautiful lake’. It is like an overturned color palette, changing colors with season and weather.

Is there a lake monster in Kanas Lake?

Since the “giant lake monster” of Kanas Lake was discovered and photographed in 1980, research on the lake monster has never stopped, and there has been no definite answer. Many scholars and scientific researchers have put forward three kinds of conjectures about the lake monster: one is the giant red fish that rarely surfaced, that is, the giant taimen. The second is a new species that has not been recognized by human. The third is a huge reptile that has survived from ancient times.

What is taimen?

Taimen is one of the conjectures on the monster of Kanas Lake. Some people speculate that the largest taimen can be 3.37 meters long, and the fish with a weight of more than 500 kg is most likely to be the “lake monster” hidden in Kanas Lake. Taimen is a cold-water fish. They like to live in clear water with temperature no more than 20 ℃. They have arc-shaped fangs, which allows them to swallow fish.

What ethnic group does the Tuva people in Kanas belong to?

In China, Tuva people are categorized as the Mongolian. Some call them “primitive tribes wandering in Xinjiang”, while others “people who are being forgotten”. Because Tuva people only have their language but not their own characters, their history and the stories of their ancestors will only remain in their minds from generation to generation, which makes them more mysterious.

Tuva people can be found in Russia, Mongolia and China. Tuva people in Kanas scenic area live in Kanas Village, Hemu Village and Baihaba Village, and they have been living here for hundreds of years. Scholars have different opinions on the origin of Tuva people. Some scholars believe that their ancestors migrated from Siberia 500 years ago, and have inextricable links with the Tuva people of the Republic of Tuva in Russia. Although some of the history of Tuva people cannot be investigated, we believe that there will be more historical data of them in the future.

Would you like to visit this mysterious and beautiful place?

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